RESERVE TO MOVE TO ‘TOXIC WASTE DUMP’
developer to compensate for any loss or damage caused by a development, or mitigate a development’s wider impact.”
Hilary said the campaign group has around 20,000 supporters all wanting Penrhos to be left alone.
She said one of the main points of opposition relates to the reserve being moved to the contaminated Cae Glas site – an idea she described as “crazy”.
She wonders how the wildlife will thrive and questions the logistics of moving the current wildlife.
She said: “They talk of building this new nature reserve on the Cae Glas site. Cae Glas was originally – in the early 1960s – a dump site for [the] council.
“When the land was purchased by Anglesey Aluminium [which started production in 1971], they used that for a dumping ground for waste for about 48 years.”
She added: “It’s crazy. Are they going to notify the animals and say: ‘Excuse me, Mr Squirrel, it’s time to move now?’”
Hilary believes a better option would be to keep Penrhos as it is and move the campsite to Cae Glas.
Finally, she expressed concerns about how much the holiday site would benefit locals.
Hilary said although some jobs would be created, the quality of the work was less clear.
She said: “They would likely be seasonal workers on zero contract hours. Would it be beneficial to the local people? Even if two people worked there on zero hour contracts, they wouldn’t be able to afford a mortgage on that.”
A spokesman for Isle of Anglesey
County Council said: “For clarity, this is not the county council’s plans. The proposed Nature Reserve at Cae Glas is part of the ‘Land and Lakes development’ which was granted planning permission in 2016.
“As mitigation for the loss of publicly accessible land at Penrhos, the applicant Land & Lakes Ltd, intend to develop a Nature reserve at Cae Glas.
“The Nature Reserve at Cae Glas will open up 38 hectares of land which is currently not publicly accessible.
“Cae Glas is located in the AONB and is in proximity to the inland sea which forms part of the Beddmanarch-Cymyran Site of Special Scientific Interest.
“Part of the Cae Glas site has historically been used as a landfill site by Anglesey Aluminium and by the local authority for the disposal of domestic waste.
“This use ceased in 1990 and the site has since been landscaped using inert material recovered from the construction of the A55 and the site is now well vegetated, having been planted with indigenous tree species which are now well established.
“It is understood that several protected species, such as red squirrels and badgers, inhabit sections of the site.
“One of the requirements attached to the original permission / legal agreement was that a Remediation and Mitigation Scheme was presented to the county council for its approval prior to any work commencing.
“A specialist company was appointed by Land and Lakes to monitor the site and in December 2018 LK Consultants commenced their 12-month monitoring.
“This report was presented to Natural Resources Wales, who confirmed that they were content with the conclusions of the report and no further remediation and monitoring was required (i.e. the site is better left as it is to decay naturally rather than being disturbed).
“It must be noted that this is one small part to the Eastern side of the Cae Glas site and is not the entire site. It must also be noted access to Penrhos is permissive. The land is owned and maintained by Land and Lakes at their own expense.
“The Cae Glas site will only be developed if development proceeds at the Penrhos site in accordance with the terms of the legal agreement.”
The spokesman added: “There is a commitment in the S106 Agreement (Schedule 11 – Local Employment) that at least 80% of the leisure workers to come from local area and at least 35% during construction.
“There is also commitment to apprenticeship schemes and work placements.”