Concerned residents living near a building site in Burnham-On-Sea have this week been reassured that the discovery of asbestos there “does not provide an immediate risk to health.”

Homeowners besides Persimmon Homes’ 48-home Mulberry Park building development near Lawrence Close have raised a number of concerns after seeing work halted in part of the site last week when the asbestos was found.

The area has been fenced off, as pictured here, and a large blue tarpauline has been placed over the contaminated soil.

However, Carl Haley, Managing Director for Persimmon Homes Severn Valley, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “During part of the site clearance at Mulberry Park our contractor alerted Persimmon Homes to asbestos roof sheeting lying on the ground that had been previously illegally deposited.”

“This low risk asbestos does not provide an immediate risk to health. However, Persimmon Homes takes its health and safety duties very seriously and therefore invoked its policy with regard to asbestos removal.”

“This has involved fully protecting the workforce whilst segregating the asbestos and furthermore we have stockpiled the earth that has been affected. As a further precaution the mound of stockpiled earth has been fully covered and will be removed to a certified tip.”

Several concerned residents have contacted Burnham-On-Sea.com regarding the new housing development, which is being built on a former landfill rubbish tip.

One, who lives nearby, said: “The original landfill site was contaminated land and cost the local authority a substantial amount to remediate and make safe for the general public. We trust Persimmon have in place control measures to ensure that the general public and the eventual occupiers of the houses built on that land are protected. The fact that the work was being carried out by a different company to the original construction company Harris & Harris, and that the personnel were wearing disposable overalls would indicate that precautions are being taken, however we believe the question of contaminated land outside the existing landfill was never raised in the original planning consultations.”

Another resident added: “Originally the local authority had promised to make a play area on top of the old tip when it was free of gas emissions and safe to do so. They planned to cover the site with a 300mm layer of topsoil but when local people pointed out the hazardous nature of some of the dump’s contents they had a rethink.”

“A full and extensive remediation was carried out to make it safe for future public use. We would like to know if these recent excavations and removal of topsoil are dealing with extra, unexpected hazards or further results of the decades of fly tipping.”

“We would also ask if the top soil taken from Lawrence Close and dumped next to the contaminated soil will also cause problems. There has also been some movement when the dumper truck collecting bricks stored next to the contaminated soil, delivering them along Wallis Wells Rd and into Lawrence Close, leaving large amounts of mud and stones on the road.”

 
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