CHESHIRE East Council has granted Ansa permission to amend their contamination removal process at the Cledford Lane environmental hub.

The hub, which will site a waste transfer station and vehicle servicing centre, will now be allowed to open and operate, despite parts of the site still being partially contaminated.

This non-material amendment, which does not require consultation, comes on the back of recent discoveries that contamination could take between six months and three years to clear in four areas.

The application was approved at the end of October.

Recommending approval, Cheshire East Council planning officer Emma Williams wrote: “Following further on-going site investigations, it is apparent that further work is required to ascertain the full extent of contamination of the four areas of concern previously identified.

“The associated timescales involved in undertaking the remediation treatment and associated monitoring could vary anywhere between six months up to three years.

“Under the [previous] wording of the condition the site cannot be occupied or brought into use during that period.

“The revised wording proposed ensures that the council has the ability to sign off each part of the remediation strategy, phasing arrangements and timescales for implementation.

“The amendments proposed are not of sufficient scale or magnitude to alter the original planning decision, or alter the type or degree of potential impact generated by the scheme.”

Ms Williams added that the Environment Agency and Cheshire East Council’s contaminated land officer had been involved in drafting the condition and are satisfied that it will not create “any adverse impact on the environment or to human health”.

Four contamination areas have been identified, containing “lubricating oil product”, galligu and chlorinated substances, as well as chlorinated substance-infected soil.

They will require further testing to ascertain the source and extent of the contamination, before remediation work begins.

Middlewich Town Councillor David Latham says the decision has left a sour taste in the mouths of residents, not least because the town council was not consulted.

He said: “Under the planning conditions that were put in place, Ansa would not be able to take control of the site until the contamination had been signed off – they weren’t allowed to work on site until it was given the all clear.

“They are not supposed to change planning conditions, they have done exactly what they wanted.

“Not only were we not given a chance to comment on it, they have gone ahead and passed it without it being scrutinised.

“Why was the council not allowed to look at it and offer their thoughts? There are so many questions and it stinks.”