Content

That the following motion be
rejected:
 

“North Northamptonshire
continues to live with the legacy of the Corby toxic waste scandal.
Recent reporting has raised concerns that contaminated material
associated with historic waste movements in the 1980s and 1990s may
also have been deposited in parts of Kettering. The failures that
led to the Corby case must never be repeated.

 

This
Council notes that:

The current UK regulatory
framework for contaminated land and landfill sites does not provide
sufficient protection to public health or the environment,
particularly in relation to historic landfill sites.

 

The Corby toxic waste litigation
established liability in negligence, public nuisance and breach of
statutory duty, demonstrating the serious consequences of
regulatory failure.

 

In 2014, seven-year-old, Zane Gbangbola, died, and his
father paralysed following suspected hydrogen cyanide exposure linked to
floodwater passing through a historic landfill
site in Surrey, highlighting the risks posed by
inadequately monitored contaminated land.

 

The legislative framework known as
Zane’s Law – the Clean Land (Human Rights) Bill would
likely include the following measures:

 

1.          
Every local authority must keep a
full, regularly updated Register of Land that may be contaminated
within their boundary.

 

2.          
The Environment Agency must keep a
full, public National Register of Contaminated Land to be regularly
updated by information from local authorities.

 

3.          
The Registers of Land must be
accessible and available for inspection by the general
public.

 

4.          
Relevant local authorities must
fully inspect any land registered that may be contaminated and must
fully remediate or enforce remediation of any land which poses harm
to public safety, or which pollutes controlled waters.

 

5.          
Relevant local authorities must be
responsible for inspecting previously closed landfill sites and
fully remediating them, or enforcing their remediation, when they
pose a risk of significant harm to people or controlled
waters.

 

6.          
The Government must take full
responsibility for providing the necessary funds for local
authorities to meet these new requirements, following the
‘polluter pays’ principle: to recover costs as
appropriate where those responsible for the pollution can be
identified.

 

This
Council resolves to:

Formally support the principles of
Zane’s Law – the Clean Land (Human Rights)
Bill by writing to the Prime Minister, the
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to:

 

1.          
Urge them to bring forward
Zane’s Law – the Clean Land (Human Rights)
Bill.

 

2.          
Call upon the Government to ensure
that any new statutory duties arising from such legislation are
fully funded for Local Authorities and to reaffirm the polluter
pays principle; and

 

3.          
Affirm this Council’s commitment to protecting
residents across North Northamptonshire from the risks associated
with contaminated land and historic landfill
sites.”

 

 

A recorded vote was requested in
line with constitutional provisions, and the results were as
follows:

 

Voted For
(24)

Voted Against
(29)

Abstained
(4)

Cllr W Colquhoun

Cllr L Duffy

Cllr M Davies

Cllr S Geary

Cllr P Brooke

Cllr D Brackenbury

Cllr P Shackleton

Cllr M Eglin

Cllr D McLean

Cllr D Baker

Cllr C McGiffen

Cllr S Clark

Cllr B Williams

Cllr C Munday

 

Cllr B Jameson

Cllr A Hall

 

Cllr M Pengelly

Cllr C Kellett

 

Cllr W Brackenbury

Cllr B Benneyworth

 

Cllr H Harrison

Cllr J O’Hara

 

Cllr H Howell

Cllr K Harrington

 

Cllr D Howes

Cllr K Harrison

 

Cllr T
Partridge-Underwood

Cllr L Gibbs

 

Cllr J Paul?Carr

Cllr J Di
Cosimo?Carvetta

 

Cllr S Brown

Cllr V Whitrow

 

Cllr B Jenney

Cllr J Lumsden

 

Cllr J Hakewill

Cllr G Wilcox

 

Cllr D Dell

Cllr F Kilgallon

 

Cllr S Fairhall

Cllr E Wright

 

Cllr L Robinson

Cllr E McDonald

 

Cllr K Duddridge

Cllr D Donnelly

 

Cllr J Humberstone

Cllr G Beales

 

Cllr H Howes

Cllr T Conway

 

Cllr J Towns

Cllr K Clarke

 

Cllr V Jessop

Cllr A Sims

 

 

Cllr G Dunsmuir

 

 

Cllr M Haddon

 

 

Cllr J Bone

 

 

Cllr G Cheatley

 

 

Cllr M Griffiths
(Leader)