Council faces court over ‘contaminated’ estate

Law firm Collins Solicitors has written to the council saying it negligently failed to exercise its duties under the Environmental Protection Act.

The firm, which won a high profile land contamination case against Corby Council last year, is acting on a ‘no win no fee’ basis for residents on a 400-home estate off Watling Street, in Motherwell, Scotland.

Residents have complained about the poor condition of their homes, ill health and strange smells coming from the ground (Inside Housing, 14 May). They think the estate was constructed on contaminated ground and that insufficient remediation work was carried out before the homes were built.

Des Collins, senior partner at the law firm, said residents want proof the land is not contaminated or an admission that the council was wrong. He added there was a ‘missing link’ in documentation given to residents to show that proper remedial work was done before homes were built.

The letter gave a deadline of today for the council to respond. Without co-operation from the council, Mr Collins said the matter would be taken to the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

‘To have built a large number of houses in Motherwell on what appears to be contaminated land is wholly irresponsible,’ he said.

The homes were built by Glasgow-based firm City Link Developments and are now owned by Lanarkshire Housing Association. But Collins says the council was responsible for ensuring proper remedial work was carried out.

The news emerged as the council began further tests on the site. Charles Penman, the council’s pollution control manager, said: ‘We want to resolve this situation for everyone concerned, and this plan [further tests] is our best means of doing so.’

The council had previously commissioned consultancy WSP Environmental to produce two reports. The reports confirmed that medical equipment had been manufactured on the site in the 1940s but that the radiological risk to residents was low.

In the latest tests WSP drilled boreholes up to eight metres into the ground at various locations on the site over a three-day period. Samples of gas and groundwater were taken from the site. The results of the tests will be made public.

A spokesperson for the council said: ‘The council has received correspondence from a firm of solicitors in relation to the investigation, to which it will respond directly.’

A spokesperson for Lanarkshire Housing Association said: ‘We are quite happy that the council’s environmental services are dealing with any issue with the land.’

City Link Developments did not wish to comment.

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