Councillors decline to back contaminated land law

Councillors have refused to support a proposed new law to ensure greater transparency over contaminated land.

Members of North Northamptonshire Council were asked to back a motion supporting Zane's Law, named after seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, whose parents say was killed by gas from landfill when their home was flooded in 2014.

Ben Williams, a Green Party councillor, forwarded the motion to Thursday's meeting of the Reform UK-controlled council. There were 24 votes in favour, four abstentions and 29 against.

One opponent of the proposed law said the costs and implications were "unclear", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Children in Corby were born with birth defects believed to have been caused by industrial pollution when the town's steelworks were dismantled in the 1980s.

Williams had told the meeting "if north Northamptonshire, of all places, does not speak up for stronger contaminated land protections, then who will?"

Zane's parents have disputed the results of a 2016 inquest that he died of carbon monoxide poisoning and are calling on Sir Keir Starmer to grant an independent panel inquiry into the death.

They believe Zane died from suspected hydrogen cyanide exposure when his home was flooded with water that had passed through a historic landfill site.

His father, Kye Gbangbola, who attended the meeting, said supporting the proposed Clean Land (Human Rights) Bill had been "a real opportunity to move forward and protect future generations" and that his "heart breaks for the people of Corby".

Gbangbola said he had travelled for hours to get to Corby for the meeting, but felt he had been "excluded" due to a new rule that prevents people who do not live or work in the area from speaking.

Zane's Law would ensure all potentially contaminated land is identified, made public, regularly inspected and properly cleaned up.

Its supporters say it would mean local authorities would be given the funding, resources and powers to act.

Brian Benneyworth, a Reform UK councillor with a responsibility for health, said he could not support the motion in its current form and encouraged other members to do the same.

He said: "My objection is not to the sentiment, it's to the lack of realism.

"Let's not endorse this legislation, whose scale, costs and implications are unclear and, potentially, not manageable."

Williams asked if councillors had "missed the point" of the motion and clarified that they were being asked to agree on the set of principles which had been set out, not the legislation itself.

He also rejected claims that it could create new costs for the authority, as the motion called on the government to ensure that any new statutory duties were fully funded and reaffirmed that the polluter paid.

Williams, who represents the Ise ward in Kettering, was prompted to bring the motion after correspondence obtained by the BBC suggested that toxic waste had been dumped in Kettering.

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