Who I am?

I'm a lifelong resident of the Somercotes area, representing a group of locals who are concerned about homes being built near hazardous landfill sites.

Our Case

Somercotes Against Development strongly opposed a planning application for 200 homes at Nether Farm Somercotes. This housing development is within dangerously close proximity to several historic hazardous landfills. There has been no testing of the landfills in the area despite public concerns spanning 50 years. 

Our local authority, Amber Valley Borough Council, do not accept the potential for significant harm to human health and the environment posed by these toxic landfills sites. And have passed the Nether Farm Development without a shred of scientific evidence to support it. We have enlisted the help of a Geo-Environmental risk assessor who has grave concerns about the development, and the risks posed to local people.

This is not Somercotes Against Development's first battle with Amber Valley Borough Council. In August 2017, following a four-year fight we successfully won a planning inspectorate appeal on a neighbouring site. No lay person could have understood the scientific jargon contained in the ground investigation but with the help of our expert, we identified a substandard investigation which ultimately won us our case. The inspector even went as far as to award our group costs to pay our expert.

Why is this important?

Whilst we totally understand the current housing crisis and the need for new housing to be built, that housing must be fit for purpose. With land at a minimum and pressure from the Government to meet housing targets, decisions like these are being made nationwide. In some ways we are lucky, we know about the contamination in our area. DO YOU?

We are very concerned about our health, the health of our families and the health of new residents who may move into these houses. We want transparency into what these landfill sites contain and how dangerous they are to human health and the environment. Only a full comprehensive investigation of the entire area under part 2A of the environmental protection act will give our community the answers we deserve. In the first instance though, we need to stop the current development - if this goes ahead, there will be no chance of a proper investigation.

And this isn't just about our town - this about holding local authorities accountable for making decisions that could cause potential health and safety risks to residents. We don't think this should be allowed to happen here or anywhere else in the UK.

What are we raising funds for?

We're raising funds to launch a judicial review of the decision to allow. The funds will pay for our legal expenses and our contamination expert.

*The image above is from taken in 1976 when residents had had enough of the pollution. The landfills in the area caught fire and were glowing like lava, even the fire brigade would not touch them because they were full of toxic waste.