Plans to dig up contaminated waste illegally dumped near Yorkshire village as part of housing plan

Contaminated waste illegally dumped in a quarry more than a decade ago would be dug up as part of a plan that could eventually see more than 70 houses built close to an East Yorkshire village.

Matrix Aggregates has submitted proposals to East Riding Council for Middleton Quarry at Pollington.

This would involve digging down some eight metres to remove the remaining sand and quarry reserves – some 270,000 tonnes – in the old quarry, which now is a local wildlife site.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The quarry floor would then be "engineered to provide a mineral lining seal" before 800,000 tonnes of "inert" commercial, demolition and excavation waste would be trucked in over a period of up to seven years and used for infill.

The site on the outskirts of Pollington, East YorkshireThe site on the outskirts of Pollington, East Yorkshire
The site on the outskirts of Pollington, East Yorkshire

The north-eastern corner of the quarry still contains an estimated 127,000 tonnes of waste, which was illegally dumped there over a decade ago.

One man from Doncaster was jailed and another given a suspended sentence in 2014 after waste was tipped “on an industrial scale” in the quarry and at another site at Wroot Road, Doncaster.

The Environment Agency carried out an investigation and in 2008 and 2009 witnessed waste being tipped and levelled at Middleton Quarry. It contained wood, vegetation, plastics, asbestos sheeting and other non-inert waste.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sample testing results revealed the presence of chrysotile asbestos and asbestos fibres.

Up to 74 houses would be built on the northern part of the site in an area covering 2.6 hectaresUp to 74 houses would be built on the northern part of the site in an area covering 2.6 hectares
Up to 74 houses would be built on the northern part of the site in an area covering 2.6 hectares

At the time the EA said the waste “posed a significant pollution risk to the nearby water sources”.

The proposals submitted to the council say the illegal waste would be processed "on a sealed area to be either re-used for restoration purposes or taken off-site for appropriate disposal”.

The plans also state that the site currently contains "various habitats" and the majority will be lost as a result of the work.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A local resident last year encouraged locals to write to the council after hearing of the plans.

He believes the quarry and the contaminated waste should be left undisturbed. Posting on social media, he said deer, foxes, badgers and birds of prey used the site, as well as sandmartins, woodpeckers and polecats.

Children played there and people walked their dogs.

He said there’d be noise, dust and disturbance from skip wagons and tipper lorries using Heck and Pollington Lane, as well as Pinfold Lane.

Ward councillor Caroline Fox said she believed people in the village would be up in arms over the plans and said she’d call a meeting in the New Year so people could voice their concerns. “I will be standing on the side of my residents,” she said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“When it raised its ugly head before people were very concerned about it.”

A planning statement accompanying the application states that removal of the illegal waste would cost £3.59m and the housing was needed as “further enabling development”.

Up to 74 houses would be built on the northern part of the site in an area covering 2.6 hectares. The site was last quarried in the 1950s and has since been undisturbed.

News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice