Bradford politicians demand investigation into the Bradford tyre fire and the Environment Agency’s lack of action.
Politicians Wade in on Bradford Tyre Fire
According to an article in the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, both Bradford East MP Imran Hussain and Cllr Talat Sajawal (Ind, Little Horton) have expressed concerns that the operator of the Spring Mill Street site of the recent tyre fire, had failed to comply with an Environment Agency enforcement notice to clear the area.
Mr Hussian said: “I am extremely concerned that almost three months on from this major fire at Spring Mill Street, the site has yet to be fully cleared, despite the warnings, orders and enforcement notices in place.
“As a result of their negligence and failure to clear the site, it continues to pose a serious danger to both residents and the local environment, and I will continue to press the relevant agencies involved to take the action needed to clear the site without delay.”
Cllr Sajawal said that he “would have expected the site to be cleared” by now.
“I’m not sure what this to-ing and fro-ing is about,” he said. “I would have expected the site to be cleared because we don’t want something like this to happen again.
The Environment Agency had served a clearance notice on operators of the site before the fire had broken out in mid-November.
Following a visit to the site, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The operator has failed to comply with the legal requirements of an enforcement notice, compelling it to remove tyres from its illegal waste site on Spring Mill Street.
“Failure to comply with the conditions of an enforcement notice is a criminal offence. This will be considered as part of the Environment Agency’s ongoing investigation.
“The Environment Agency is now working with those that have legal responsibility for the land to seek removal of waste from the site.”
Comments on the post have largely been defensive of the Environment Agency, asking why, if these politicians were aware of the tyre dump, they did nothing prior to the fire.
Sadly, what should be a cut and dried affair rarely is. The Environment Agency has a policy of guiding people to legitimate waste management. This policy failed on this occasion. It is also clearly the duty of the Landowner to ensure that waste is not dumped illegally on his property, so one has to ask how he permitted this dump to arise on his land. Then there are the local environmental health officers, planners and politicians who failed to act accordingly.
This dump and the ensuing fire are almost certainly another example of the abuse of an Exemption and the allowance for the use of tyres on cart tracks. One thing is for sure, there will be more repercussion arising out of the Bradford tyre fire.
Source: Telegraph and Argus
