Council needs cash help to clean up land

THIS week, I called out the government for its plan to shift the financial burden for dealing with contaminated land to local councils.

Government funding for contaminated land has been vital for Rochdale. In the past, it has been essential for cleaning up former landfill sites.

The removal of such funding seriously impairs the council’s ability to tackle this environmental problem.

Our community’s rich industrial history has had a lasting legacy.

Asbestos, from the Turner Brother Asbestos site, scourged the lives of many of the men and women who worked there.

Today, Spodden Valley lays barren.

I would like to see the site become an urban park, a green lung, to the memory of all those killed by asbestos.

Currently, the site is a ticking time bomb with evidence that asbestos sits in the soil.

When it comes to contaminated land the government must commit to assisting with the cleanup.

The Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive and Public Health England also need to do more, particularly in relation to Spodden Valley.

The broader problem of contaminated land poses challenges which are too great for local authorities to face on their own.

Many other councils across the country, believe they will struggle to deal with contaminated land now government funding is being phased out.

I joined fellow parliamentarians to call for this decision to be reversed. Rochdale has already been hit hard by government cuts, now they are asking us to do even more with less money.