Soil Stockpiling Polluting SSSI’s in Somerset

ELF was contacted by a former Parish Councillor and current Vice-Chair of Westonzoyland Parish Council who, alongside the rest of the Parish Council, has been very concerned about waste processing and soil stockpiling activities on the Westonzoyland airfield site in Somerset. This airfield is surrounded by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) which are part of the Somerset Levels. The operations are introducing large amounts of foreign polluting substances into the area, which can then easily enter local ecosystems and cause issues such as excess nutrient enrichment, which gradually worsens the condition of the habitats and impacts the creatures that rely on them. There are also the health impacts on local residents who have been largely ignored as activity increases and planning applications are approved.

The Somerset Levels and the surrounding SSSIs have unique habitats and ecosystems which are vital for biodiversity in the area with large breeding wader populations, flower-rich wet grasslands and a large invertebrate community.

These operations are creating airborne dust, ammonia emissions and water run-off which is leading to contamination of the local watercourses and damage to the local ecology in these sensitive SSSI areas. There are also concerns about the significant increase in heavy goods vehicles (HGV) going through the village because of these operations and the damage to peatland in the area.

Some of the operations on this site have been legally permitted and some are unpermitted. However, all are incrementally causing detrimental impacts on the surrounding nature. ELF has been helping the enquirer look into breached planning conditions attached to several permitted operations.

Additionally, we have been assisting the enquirer in taking legal action against Somerset Council regarding their decision to approve another stockpiling operation without undertaking an Environmental Impact Screening decision including taking the cumulative impacts of all these developments on the surrounding protected environment into account. We have just heard that the Council has consented to judgment, which basically means that they agree with us that the decision was taken inappropriately.