Bellway’s Hazlemere site is set for contamination ‘mitigation measures’ following the fire which burned for weeks earlier this year as fly-tipped waste caught light.

Bellway already has planning permission to demolish the existing buildings including Inkerman House on the land between Tralee and Orchard End Farms and at the rear of 22 Badger Way off Amersham Road to make way for 259 new homes.

However, the developer has now submitted a new planning application to Buckinghamshire Council to deal with the fallout of the fire that broke out in the former coachyard area of the site on April 25.

Bellway is asking the council to sign off a plan showing the area hit by fly tipping and subsequent fire, which requires a ‘further contamination assessment’.

It also wants the authority to approve a ‘supplementary contaminated land assessment’ and if required, an updated remedial strategy to mitigate any risks from contamination from the fire.

The supplementary contamination assessment Bellway has sent to the council has identified the presence of TPH, benzo(a)pyrene and asbestos at the site, which are ‘considered to pose a potential risk to human health’.

TPH and benzo(a)pyrene can cause cancer in humans, but they are common chemicals, which people come into contact with every day and have only been found in very small quantities at the Hazlemere site.

Asbestos, which can also cause cancer, is a naturally occurring mineral and is found in some building materials.

The assessment prepared for Bellway by Structa says that as long as the necessary mitigation measures are put in place, it will not be necessary to conduct ‘further assessment of the potential risk to human health from contamination’.

The assessment reads: “In order to mitigate the potential risk to human health at the proposed development, the previous investigation recommended that a suitable cover layer is placed in all areas of soft landscaping forming part of the proposed development in the south-east.

“It was also recommended that the chemical laboratory test results should be forwarded to the mains water service provider to ensure that their requirements for service line construction are satisfied.”

It adds that, based on the findings of the investigation at the site, ‘contaminant resistant water supply infrastructure’ will be required for the south-east of the site.

The assessment adds: “It is considered that the mitigation measures detailed in Structa’s site investigation report, including the placement of a cover layer, would mitigate the potential risk from the contaminants of concern identified.”

The fly-tipped waste which caught fire has not been shown to have affected the ‘contaminative status of the site’ with respect to the risk posed to human health.