Plans to build two car dealerships on a former landfill site have been scuppered after concerns were raised about ‘volatile’ underground substances.
The 1,410m2 parcel of land is on what used to be Ruby Street tip, just off Windmill Lane in Denton, which according to reports from Tameside Council (TMBC) held household, commercial and industrial waste to a depth of eight metres.
Those objects, likely to include asbestos, are still rotting beneath the surface while creating noxious gasses and potentially toxic leachate.
Andrew Taylor, a TMBC environmental protection officer, objected to the project in his report: “Previous investigations undertaken in the mid 2000s included the monitoring of permanent gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane.
“The results suggested that concentrations of both of these gasses were significantly elevated with also very high gas flow rates detected.
“In addition, elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds were also found in gas samples taken from monitoring locations.
“It is likely that if a development is proposed for this site, remedial works will be needed. This may include excavation and re-processing/removing landfilled wastes.”
He also addressed a landfill gas extraction system from the 1990s that has fallen out of use after its efficiency “declined” over the years.
“There will also be a requirement to determine the efficacy of the current leachate cut off barrier/trench possibly located on the boundary between the site and the residential areas to determine if it is adequately preventing the migration of contaminants to neighbouring areas.
“It is possible that an additional system to prevent gas/leachate migration off site will be needed.
“This may include an updated cut off barrier/virtual curtain system to be situated on the boundaries of the site to prevent/reduce gas/leachate migration to neighbouring areas.”
The news was enough to deter the planning applicants, represented by JD Properties Manchester in Heald Green, to withdraw their interest before TMBC’s planners reached a decision.
Before closing as a landfill site in the late 1970s, the Ruby Street Tip was Jackson’s Brick Works – with a sister site in Levenshulme that now makes up part of Highfield Country Park – and a set of allotments and open fields before that.
