2 June 2004 · Committee
Louisa Mine East, East Foxdale Road, Foxdale, Isle Of Man, IM4 3hl
The proposal covered the Louisa Mine East site on East Foxdale Road, Foxdale — part of a larger area known to have extreme levels of heavy metal contamination. The Foxdale Local Plan 1999 designates the whole area as requiring reclamation and limits future use to open space only. The application proposed filling and levelling the site with inert materials, treating the watercourse, and building a house, but a draft contamination assessment from June 2002 had not been followed up and the required site investigations — covering topography, ecology, archaeology, and chemical conditions — had not been carried out. Planning Committee refused the application on two main grounds. First, the proposal breached local plan Policy F/P/E/2 on heavy metal pollution risk, and a dwelling on land zoned for open space was flatly contrary to the plan. The committee also judged that reclaiming only part of the wider contaminated area would be a piecemeal approach likely to undermine any future comprehensive strategy for the whole Louisa Mine site.
The site lies within an area of known extreme heavy metal contamination, designated for open space reclamation only under the Foxdale Local Plan 1999. A dwelling was contrary to that designation and the required pollution risk guidelines had not been met. Partial reclamation without the necessary site investigations risked prejudicing a future comprehensive remediation strategy for the whole mine site, and safe highway access was also considered unachievable.
Foxdale Local Plan 1999 Policy F/P/E/2
have not been complied with
## 2.17 F/P/E/2 - POLICY In areas where there is a known risk of heavy metal pollution (see paragraph 2.2i), the following guidelines must be applied when a development is proposed: i. any development proposal must be accompanied by a full site investigation including both geotechnical and geochemical reports. ii. planning applications should address the best practical options for dealing with any contaminated fill either by removal to an approved site or by isolating it in situ. iii. where, for historical reason mine spoil is existing within a development and it is unrealistic to remove/cap it, then adequate landscaping should be specified. This may include a low-cost solution of revegetation with indigenous species provided that the Department can be satisfied that an adequately stable surface can be created. This is particularly important where slopes in spoil are adjacent to stream courses and in such cases the Government may wish to enter into a joint scheme to obtain other benefits for the community such as an access, nature trail or river bank stabilisation programme. If possible, any future landscaping scheme should include an area of impeded drainage in the hope that nature can be assisted to re-create the varied and valuable plant community previously existing and including northern marsh orchid Dactylorchis and Adderstongue Fern, Ophioglossum Vulgatum. iv. where proposals contain existing or proposed slopes made or cut into toxic fill/mine waste adequate attention must be paid to slope stability, likelihood of gullying or other threats which may mobilise toxic materials to the environment. v. planning applications should show how any toxic fill is to be prevented from being mobilised both during the course of development and afterwards. vi. surface and stormwater drainage must be fully specified in plans where the land contains toxic fill/mine spoil. The general principle will be to keep surface waters and subsurface drainage away from the fill where practical. Thus drainage from roofs and tarmac/concrete must be routed through solid-walled pipes to the stream network. vii. if possible schemes should be value-added in environmental terms: for example where field drains carry water into an adjacent area of spoil the developers should be encouraged to construct interceptor drains to avoid water entering spoil beneath the development. viii. no soakaways will be permitted in these areas. ix. plans which show proposed open space (grassed areas, gardens, etc.) over toxic waste should show in adequate detail how toxic material is to be isolated from both exposure at the surface and the ingress of drainage water. This will normally mean either the use of clay or installation of a membrane barrier. x. no bare ground, either as open space or trackways, made of spoil or toxic waste should be permitted. Where activities are likely to cause wear to the surface then those areas should be capped with an inert cover to a standard specification. xi. a condition may be attached to any planning approval granted such that adequate aftercare/landscaping is undertaken. NOTE: Further to the Government obtaining other benefits from the development, such as a nature trail, the Manx Nature Conservation Trust may be of assistance in terms of practical land management to conserve and enhance the habitats and their constituent flora and fauna, production of a nature trail, provision of interpretation boards leading guided walks and field study/educational courses, giving talks and slideshows to the local community and other groups.
land zoned opposite Springfield Terrace
erection of a dwelling would be contrary to the prescribed use as 'open space'
