Fears over historic Portchester landfill sites opening up and rubbish spilling out

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Health and safety fears have been raised in Portchester as coastal erosion risks opening up historic landfills, possibly meaning rubbish falls into the sea.

People living in the village near Fareham are concerned over contaminated land at three historic landfill sites along the shore, with rubbish such as metal, glass and concrete being exposed by flooding and erosion. Despite that, the land is not classified as contaminated.

Between 1932 and 1993, the sites were used for tipping domestic and commercial waste.

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There are fears about historic landfills around PortchesterThere are fears about historic landfills around Portchester
There are fears about historic landfills around Portchester | kitmasterbloke/Flickr

Councillor Joanne Burton, Fareham Borough Council’s executive member for health and public protection said, long before the pressing issues of climate change, the government allowed controlled tipping across the UK for 60 years as it was thought to improve saltmarshes. The impact of this practice is now a national issue with coastal erosion and flooding exposing rubbish at the site at Alton Grove to Cador Drive.

Cllr Burton (Con, Sarisbury and Whiteley) said while the risk in Fareham is much lower than other parts of the country, residents are concerned about the site at Alton Grove to Cador Drive. It is beginning to expose landfill waste and could become a health and safety hazard to the public and rubbish could end up in the sea.

In the short-term, the council has drawn up a comprehensive risk assessment and action plan of the site, while longer term plans are being worked on with Coastal Partners.

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At a meeting this week, executive members approved plans to manage the immediate problem by regular inspection of the areas, removing and clearing hazardous waste and litter picking. The project will be managed by the council’s street scene team, coastal partnership and environmental health.

Coastal Partners is a collaboration between five councils, working to address coastal erosion across the Solent coast. Its long-term plan is to provide a physical barrier at Portchester, and with government funding for the sea-defences.

Members also approved plans to monitor the historic landfill sites at Salterns and Harbour View.

Leader of the council, Cllr Simon Martin (Con, Park Gate) said nationally there are over 1,200 coastal landfill sites and some in worse conditions than Fareham’s. The next step is to find funding to protect the creek from coastal erosion and Cllr Malcolm Daniels (Con, Locks Heath) is working with Coastal Partnership to do this.

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