Housing developers urged to ‘come clean’ over plans to build homes on former waste tip
Local politicians are calling on developers to come clean over plans to develop homes on the site of a former waste tip.
Foxhill Homes has announced plans on its website to build 90 homes at Virginia Park in Caerphilly.
However, they have failed to respond to requests for details of its scheme, including timescale, plans for making the site safe, and addressing flooding concerns.
Attack on democracy
Plaid Cymru councillors have also complained that they have been been continually raising site issues with Caerphilly Council but are being excluded from meetings with residents and officers which, they described, as an attack on democracy.
Councillor Phil Bevan said: “We have raised very valid concerns relayed to us by residents but the developers, Foxhill Homes, have ignored our requests for vital information on their proposed scheme.
“That is totally unacceptable and doesn’t give one confidence about how they will develop this site and address the concerns of local people.”
Cllr Bevan added: “It is very disappointing that myself, Mike Prew and Martin Downes, have been raising issues with the county council but are being excluded from meetings and that is an attack on local democracy.
“There are real concerns among residents about flooding, including danger to children and possible toxic hazards in soil and groundwater as a result of the disturbance of the old refuse tip.”
He added: “We’ve always maintained that this development should not have been approved because of residents opposition to building on green spaces but also concerns raised by council officers.
“But if this housing development is to go ahead we expect transparency from developers, the local authority, National Resources Wales and Welsh Water.”
Significant concerns
South East Wales MS Delyth Jewell, said: “I am concerned that the company and Caerphilly County Borough Council seem reluctant to engage with community leaders about the development.
“I hope they will all reconsider their approach, but this does seem a pattern across the county borough. There are significant concerns surrounding several other sites across the Caerphilly borough where it’s feared that chemicals have been dumped or various aspects of our industrial heritage have polluted the land.”
Ms Jewell added: “Over the past few years, a number of areas in the borough have suffered with flooding, so it would be deeply unwise to push ahead with developments until there’s absolute certainty that the houses wouldn’t be subject to flooding risks.
It’s incumbent on public bodies at all levels of government to work together and to ensure that housing developments will be a benefit, and not a hindrance, to the local community.”
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Land that had been used to dispose of waste material will take a couple of centuries to settle and is certainly not fit for building on. There will be a certain amount of methane gas as waste materials decompose. Subsidence could also be a problem. A big no-no!!
How is it feasible to build homes on landfill sites. Clearly Caerphilly Council and Foxhill Homes etc etc have a lot to hide regarding this development. There is no other explanation. Maybe there’s a few brown envelopes being passed around.
That’s the Wales we live in now, unfortunately. Houses built on rubbish tips and flood plains, whether they are needed or not. All because of the deluded ideology, pushed by the Welsh Government, that building more and more houses will somehow solve the ‘housing crisis’. This ideology has been refuted by many economists throughout the world.
Oh *do* please shut up. When did you buy your house? Have you been in the market recently with no equity to back you up? Have you tried renting a property lately? Have you ever been forcibly evicted by your landlord simply because they didn’t want you there any more? Have you ever had to pay an entire year’s extortionate rent up front before being allowed to rent somewhere? Have you ever struggled to pay your rent or mortgage because the massively increased cost of living means that the meagre money you earn simply isn’t enough? Not having seen the… Read more »
I can sympathise with your position, but perhaps a big part of the problem is to do with how the ‘housing market’ is organised in the UK. The big building companies have the funds to buy up all the potential building land. The houses that they build are built to the lowet possible standard with a view to making the greatest posible profit, as for example £20k director’s bonus per house. Happily there are some bright economists out there with ideas on how to reform the housing market and to disrupt the housebuilders’ economic model. It will, of course, need… Read more »