'Catastrophic' wildfire fears over HUGE Northampton fly-tip 'where rough sleepers are making fires'

Labour councillor Sally Keeble (Dallington Spencer ward) has called for urgent action at the Martins Yard site off Spencer Bridge Road, close to Northampton railway station.

She has called on the West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to act over reports of fires being lit at the site, rough sleeping, fly-tipping, possible pollution and unregulated working conditions.

The Reform-led council was previously warned about the site in April, which this newspaper reported on.

However, the latest pictures seen by Chronicle & Echo from this month (August) show the yard remains a huge fly-tip, with large amounts of waste still piled up at the site.

Councillor Keeble said she had repeatedly raised concerns about Martins Yard and had been told the issues were being looked into by WNC.

She said: “Concerns have been raised about the fly-tipping and about pollution entering the river. There are now reports of rough sleeping and fires being lit in the premises.

“Action is now needed urgently to inspect for fire risks and take preventive measures, and check and deal with any rough sleepers.

“When I last toured round the site, there was evidence of unregulated working conditions, which have been reported – and need to be acted on.

“Above all, the massive fly-tipping so close to houses and the town centre needs to be cleared and any unregulated activity stopped.

“On my previous visit I filmed sights that I never expected to see in this country, let alone in the middle of Northampton. It’s beyond time for action to be taken.”

Former Conservative councillor James Hill, who first raised concerns about the site in April, said he is also frustrated by the lack of progress.

He said: “The main concern I have is that we’re four months on since it was first raised and we’ve not seen any real action from the council or the Environment Agency or any of the relevant authorities.

“Given the recent fires we’ve had at waste plants around the country, including Corby, it’s a massive risk. If that goes up in the middle of town it isn’t going to be good.

“It needs to be dealt with urgently and it needs to be a multi-agency approach.

“From what I can see, very little has taken place so far, and I think the relevant bodies really need to get a grip on this before something catastrophic happens.”

In April, Councillor Andrew Last, WNC Cabinet Member for HR, Corporate Services and Regulatory Services, said: “Clearly this is totally unacceptable, and we are actively investigating now it has been brought to our attention.

“The land is privately owned, and we will be working with the landowner to investigate with a view to taking enforcement action if evidence allows us to do so.”

Reform has been asked for an update on what action has been taken since April.

In April, an Environment Agency spokesperson also said: “Waste criminals scar our environment and communities. We are committed to stopping them.

“We notified the landowners as soon as we became aware of illegal activity at this site and will work with them to clear the waste. They are victims of constant fly-tipping and are looking to secure the site for prevention going forwards.”

Chronicle & Echo has contacted the Environment Agency again for an update.