Bellway fines -ordered to stop development due to contamination leakage risk and lack of appropriate management and remediation

 For residents near Bellway's development site in Billet Road the most concerning:

May 2024	Bellway ordered to halt development	Developer must stop work on a site in eastern Newport over concerns “harmful” substances could enter a protected conservation area in the Gwent Level. The committee heard officers had flagged the presence of substances which are “harmful to health and the environment” The council argues that its efforts to resolve the matter have effectively been ignored, and work is continuing at the site despite its assertion the developer is breaching a condition of its planning permission. Outline planning permission for the site had already been agreed, subject to conditions including that “remediation works” of sampling and groundwater quality monitoring be carried out at each stage of development. Ms Davidson said “tars, heavy metals and petroleum-based oils and fuels” are present there due to the “long industrial legacy” of the wider site, which used to house a steelworks. These substances need “appropriate management and remediation”, she added. Ms Davidson said officers asked Bellway in January to cease building work on the site until the remediation works were sufficiently completed, but the developer “did not stop and indicated to us that they would not stop”. Full Article
Apr  2024	Bellway destroy ancient hedgerow	destroyed 100 feet of hedgerow that has been there for decades, and that offered a habitat for wildlife, including insects, bees and birds.
Feb 2024	Bellway fined £10,000	Bellway connected to an unauthorised and unlicensed standpipe to the clean water main on two separate occasions at developments in Taplow and Greenhithe
Mar 2023	Bellway fined £100,000 for dumping contaminated soil on one of its sites	The Environment Agency discovered that, between 22nd November and 12th December 2017, Bellway imported around 2,688 cubic metres of contaminated waste soil on to the site from one of its developments at nearby Five Mile Park. It said this was to build a soil bund around an attenuation pond.
	Bellway and other developers being investigated over alleged “anti-competitive behaviour” could pay a combined maximum penalty of billions if they are found guilty	accused housebuilders had been sharing “commercially sensitive information” to “influence the price and build-out of new homes”. It warned that such activity may “weaken competition in the market”.
Dec 2020	Bellway fined £600,000 for destroying bat roost	At Woolwich crown court on Tuesday, the company pleaded guilty to damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place of a wild animal of a European protected species between 17 March and 17 August 2018. The company had been notified in planning documents that it would first need to obtain the appropriate mitigation and a Natural England European protected species licence
Jan 2016	Bellway fined £3500 for failing to protect trees. And lack of wheel washing	“In this case, the developer had endangered trees on the site by not protecting their roots and had risked road safety by failing to ensure vehicles were free of mud when leaving the development.
Oct 2006	Bellway fined £10,000 for polluting stream	Found guilty of causing polluted matter to enter controlled waters

 

Bellway's Contaminated landfill site described as a ‘toxic timebomb’ 

The article in The Yellow Advertsiser and in This is London by Josh Mellor describes the gravel extraction site at Billet Road as being filled with: 

A range of unknown “industrial, domestic and potentially clinical wastes” underground with “elevated concentrations” of toxins.

How big was the gravel extraction area and therefore the landfill?

Thanks to the aerial photo from 20 May 1971 and with the kind permission of Historic England Archive we can see exactly what it was like. Although work continued there after this photo was taken.

Bellway have supplied a map showing where they believe the landfill contamination is, shown in yellow and red.

Overlaying this onto the aerial photo shows they have missed some areas of contamination and that's not including any sections extracted after the aerial photo was taken.