From former chalk pit to country park
One particular client of Halletec Associates Ltd is a Yorkshire-based company that not only hires plant, but has also diversified into construction and groundworks. One of the biggest issues with groundworking, however, is what to do with the excess ‘muck’ that results from excavations. As nobody really wants the expense of paying to put it into somebody else’s hole in the ground, the company decided to buy their own ‘hole’.
The site purchased was a small worked-out chalk quarry, not far from the company’s main offices in East Yorkshire. The idea was to use the disused quarry for the disposal of all clay, soil and rubble that arose from their construction activities, with the intention of saving money and bringing back into use what was little more than a derelict void in the ground. After several years of discussions and wrangling with the Environment Agency, a scheme was finally agreed upon for a low-level restoration project involving terracing and grassing the void to form a small country park.
Low-level restoration was chosen over a flush-fill scheme, as it could be completed under a Waste Management Licence for Recovery rather than a full Pollution Prevention Control application, which would have required the installation of a liner and more onerous regulation.
In February 2007 the application for a Waste Management Licence for Recovery was submitted to the Environment Agency and this was duly granted a month later. Initial discussions between the client, Halletec and the Environment Agency had begun in 2003 and took a tortuous route through the waste-management legislation minefield. Positions on how to licence the site changed over this four-year period, as new legislation and guidance was issued on landfills and waste.
The final plan for the site was a low-level park, providing a useful amenity to the community and to the wildlife of the area. Provision has been made for car parking at the site, as well as a small pond, extensive tree-planting and a wild flower meadow. Halletec’s ecologist had considerable input into the final design of the site, helping to balance the practicalities of construction with the aesthetics and landscaping of not only a park for people but also for wildlife. Even including the purchase price of the site and consultancy fees, the client still stands to make considerable savings as they are not paying commercial landfill gate prices, nor are they constrained in terms of time by having to look for third party sites that allow tipping under Waste Management Licence Exemptions.
This scheme has demonstrated that even when a mineral site is spent of extractable mineral, it has not necessarily reached the end of its useful life. With careful consideration to the future uses of a void and robust dialogue with regulators, such as the local authority and the Environment Agency, former mineral workings can be re-engineered to become assets to both the human and wildlife community.
For further information,contact Simon Rafferty, senior environmental engineer with Halletec Associates, on tel: (01630) 698035.
The site purchased was a small worked-out chalk quarry, not far from the company’s main offices in East Yorkshire. The idea was to use the disused quarry for the disposal of all clay, soil and rubble that arose from their construction activities, with the intention of saving money and bringing back into use what was little more than a derelict void in the ground. After several years of discussions and wrangling with the Environment Agency, a scheme was finally agreed upon for a low-level restoration project involving terracing and grassing the void to form a small country park.
Low-level restoration was chosen over a flush-fill scheme, as it could be completed under a Waste Management Licence for Recovery rather than a full Pollution Prevention Control application, which would have required the installation of a liner and more onerous regulation.
In February 2007 the application for a Waste Management Licence for Recovery was submitted to the Environment Agency and this was duly granted a month later. Initial discussions between the client, Halletec and the Environment Agency had begun in 2003 and took a tortuous route through the waste-management legislation minefield. Positions on how to licence the site changed over this four-year period, as new legislation and guidance was issued on landfills and waste.
The final plan for the site was a low-level park, providing a useful amenity to the community and to the wildlife of the area. Provision has been made for car parking at the site, as well as a small pond, extensive tree-planting and a wild flower meadow. Halletec’s ecologist had considerable input into the final design of the site, helping to balance the practicalities of construction with the aesthetics and landscaping of not only a park for people but also for wildlife. Even including the purchase price of the site and consultancy fees, the client still stands to make considerable savings as they are not paying commercial landfill gate prices, nor are they constrained in terms of time by having to look for third party sites that allow tipping under Waste Management Licence Exemptions.
This scheme has demonstrated that even when a mineral site is spent of extractable mineral, it has not necessarily reached the end of its useful life. With careful consideration to the future uses of a void and robust dialogue with regulators, such as the local authority and the Environment Agency, former mineral workings can be re-engineered to become assets to both the human and wildlife community.
For further information,contact Simon Rafferty, senior environmental engineer with Halletec Associates, on tel: (01630) 698035.
