“Industrial” scale fly-tipping blamed for Bellway development fire



Fly-tipping on an “industrial” scale has been blamed for a fire that broke out on a Bellway development in May, the housebuilder has confirmed.


On 25th April a fire broke out at Bellway’s development in Hazelmere, Buckinghamshire.

Firefighters tackled the blaze throughout the day and into the evening. No injuries were reported.

Having cleared up the site, at “considerable cost”, Bellway has commissioned a report into the source of the fire.

Large quantities of recyclable materials, mostly metal, were identified as the source of the fire.

An estimated 70-truckloads of material were alleged to have been the source of the fire according to the Bellway report, which were then set alight.

The report noted that when the site inspection was carried out on 17th May, over two weeks since the fire was put out, some of the waste was still smouldering.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has not raised any concerns about public health due to smoke from the fire.

Bellway has confirmed it remains in contact with Buckinghamshire Council regarding plans to develop the site.

Ali Maruf, managing director for Bellway North London, said: “Bellway followed guidance from the fire service and Environment Agency throughout, and faced delays due to the need to identify the type of materials involved, so it could be disposed of correctly, and we commissioned specialist contractors to do this.

“Their report identified different types of materials and how they would need to be disposed of.

“The Environment Agency has assessed this and is satisfied that everything has been sent to an appropriate waste facility.”



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