Developers ordered to remove earth mound from site
Developers have been given four months to remove a two-acre embankment from its 290-home estate, after their bid to keep it was rejected by planners.
Permission for the houses near the west end of Haygate Road, Wellington, was granted in 2018, and the plans included areas of open space.
In February this year, Vistry Homes and Anwyl Homes jointly applied to raise the permitted ground level on that section of the estate, known as Haygate Fields, saying it brought the land level up to the nearby road and the material used was extracted from within the site, not imported.
Wellington Town Council accused the developers of leaving waste soil there. Telford and Wrekin Council refused the application from the companies and has issued an enforcement notice.
A report by local authority planning officers said the embankment, which now has a grass covering, stretches over “approximately 8,800 square metres” and lies northwest of the Haygate Road entrance.
A statement by Philip Rawle of PDR Planning Ltd – the companies’ planning agent – said the applicants’ “primary position” was that the existing consent entitled them to raise the ground level but, in case the council disagreed, also argued that doing so caused no harm.
Mr Rawle said the material was not refuse or waste and had not been imported onto the site, merely “recovered and recycled across it in”.
This, he added, “makes the site work from a levels perspective” and demonstrated the developers’ “commitment to their own company policies on sustainable environmental considerations”.
“Raising the levels actually allows accessibility onto the ‘open grass area’ from the access road,” he added, pointing out that the section of Haygate Road ran “approximately one metre above the site”.
Wrockwardine ward councillor Jacqui Seymour objected to the proposal, noting that the “issue of dumping of earth” at that corner was raised at a liaison meeting in January 2020.
“Specifically minuted at that time were assurances given by both developers that it was needed in the medium term to allow soil to be moved around the site but it would eventually be removed,” her objection notice read.
“During the intervening months, not only has the earth not been removed but has become higher and has been grassed over.”
She says this is obscuring views towards Wellington Cricket Club’s grounds and Orleton Park and could distort natural drainage in the area.
The planners’ report notes that both Wrockwardine Parish Council and Wellington Town Council also objected, with the latter saying “the area should remain flat as per the original permission” and “the mound was created by the non-removal of the developer’s waste”.
An enforcement notice, issued by Telford and Wrekin Council Principal Enforcement Officer David Jones on Monday, March 29, asks the companies to return the land to its original levels and re-seed it so it complies with the original blueprints.
The notice takes effect on April 29 and the three-month removal period will begin then “unless an appeal is made against it beforehand”, it says.
