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Artist content of eco-development Heath Park (Image: handout)
A 'net-zero' lodging improvement of the aboriginal is battling to get built - amid claims billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe's adjacent chemic works leaves residents astatine "risk of harm".
Labour's vowed to get Britain gathering again and already 18,000 residents unrecorded by the Runcorn Chemical Complex, successful Cheshire - partially tally by the Man United co-owner's INEOS group.
It's been section businessman John Lewis's imagination to physique leisure facilities, shops and 545 houses - a plan award-winning greenish vigor property for the aboriginal called Heath Park - connected his steadfast SOG Ltd.'s onshore 1km from the chlorine-holding plant.
In May, Halton Borough Council approved Heath Park's plans contempt the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) informing successful "the astir imaginable strongest terms" - claiming determination could beryllium a "risk of harm … from a large accident".
Yet the past recorded chlorine fatality successful Runcorn was 78 years ago, erstwhile a idiosyncratic died aft a chemic drums was punctured successful a obstruction clang successful 1946.
Being adjacent the chemic plant, immoderate onshore wrong a acceptable radius is called a COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards) portion monitored by the HSE and bringing a acceptable of UK information regulations - including scrutiny connected immoderate caller dwellings.
Now Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner volition determine if it goes up aft a nationalist enquiry successful February, wherever it is hoped the HSE's contested grounds for opposing the plans tin beryllium scrutinised.
The HSE person stressed to the Daily Express that they "assess the risks utilizing technological models based connected research, learning from incidents worldwide, and accusation from manufacture and the wider technological community."
John Lewis wants to springiness thing backmost to Runcorn (Image: handout)
But joined father-of-two Mr Lewis said if immoderate of his information experts, utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling to of imaginable large incidents astatine the plant, had immoderate concerns helium would bin his project….but they haven't.
Instead helium claims the HSE are utilizing three-decade aged modelling to crook down captious caller lodging projects - affecting the UK's attempts to make caller eco-village's similar Heath Park.
Mr Lewis MBE, 62, the nephew of legendary Liverpool comic Sir Ken Dodd, told us: "I person worked adjacent the Runcorn Chemicals analyzable since 1977 and I'm not alert of immoderate incidental involving an wounded to the nationalist from a chlorine leak.
"Our imaginativeness for the improvement has won nationalist awards for its innovation - but if idiosyncratic tin show to maine that radical could beryllium nether menace of wounded oregon decease I'm not going to bash it! Why would I?
"But no-one has demonstrated immoderate risk. The HSE person a exemplary developed successful the 1990s and accidental if you are successful a COMAH portion you tin lone physique a definite fig of houses.
"But the HSE don't instrumentality into relationship existing houses - there's already astir 18,000 radical are surviving there. This enquiry is going to outgo taxpayers implicit £1m.
"It's truthful frustrating. I person friends here. Runcorn has been bully to me. It's a precise deprived area. It needs this benignant of affirmative improvement for the future."
What Heath Park could adhd to Runcorn (Image: handout)
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Mr Lewis's existent Heath Business and Technical Park covers 60 acres is location to implicit 120 businesses boasting 2,000 jobs and a fashionable movie and TV determination utilized connected large TV dramas including BBC’s Sherwood and ITV’s The Tower.
SOG bought it disconnected ICI - wherever it was their chemicals cognition HQ – and successful caller years has dreamed of transforming it into a thriving eco colony with houses, shops and leisure facilities. SOG sold portion the tract to developers to physique 45 caller houses successful 2002.
Six years agone - aft a caller 1,200-pupil schoolhouse objected to by the HSE was built careless - Halton Borough Council decided to alteration the concern parkland to ‘mixed use’ for planning, meaning much houses could beryllium built there.
Halton Borough Council told america they conflict to lucifer their urgent request for caller lodging with being successful an country with "a disproportionate fig of nationalist information zones generated by an airport, hazardous installations, and pipelines compared to the mean section authority".
Mr Lewis asked the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to organise a planetary contention challenging architects to make a sustainable futuristic eco property powered by renewable energy, wherever radical tin live, enactment and play.
It's a 21st Century mentation of Port Sunlight, the Victorian colony successful Merseyside built by industrialist Viscount Leverhulme successful the 1800s for his workers astatine his soap factory.
The visionary Heath Park connection has thrilled municipality planners and greenish boffins and is 1 of 35 ethical projects that featured successful the UK’s Global Investment Atlas to pull planetary investors into the UK.
A cardinal constituent is its ground-breaking ‘Field of the Future’ vertical workplace powered by hydrogen oregon different renewable vigor sources, putting the UK astatine the forefront of ‘Net Zero’ farming tech.
But Runcorn has much COMAH zones than immoderate different section authorization successful the state and successful caller years the HSE has objected to a fig of readying applications implicit perceived hazard to nationalist safety.
Now Mr Lewis claims Heath Park is caught successful the crossfire betwixt HSE officials and the section assembly implicit this issue.
Heath Park could beryllium a lodging jewel successful Britain's crown (Image: handout)
John Lewis with his uncle, the precocious Sir Ken Dodd (Image: Reach)
His outline readying exertion was unanimously approved by Halton’s Development Management Committee successful May successful spite of fierce HSE objections, which the planners dismissed.
The HSE makes decisions based connected script modelling chemic leaks and spills - but the assembly claims HSE’s modelling is 30 years retired of day and accused it of "stoking fears".
The Daily Express has visited the tract and Heath Park is 80 metres supra the chemic works and 1km distant - arsenic chlorine state is much than doubly heavier than air, critics accidental it's far-fetched to assertion it could dispersed up a tiny hill.
Mr Lewis adds: "The chemicals analyzable has invested millions of pounds implicit the past 20 years to amended operations and information which was portion funded with the grants from the Government.
"That said, if the HSE’s caller claims that adjacent a tiny leakage of chlorine from the Chemical Complex is present ‘lethal’, past this raises precise superior concerns for thousands of radical with homes and businesses successful the contiguous vicinity of the complex.
"If the HSE’s assertions are existent and tin beryllium evidenced, past this volition blight the country and pb to lawsuits and compensation claims from each those houses and businesses that volition beryllium drastically devalued."
Now the HSE person asked Angela Rayner to ‘Call In’ the Heath Park exertion - successful different words asking that she determine herself aft a week-long nationalist enquiry owed to beryllium held successful February 2025.
Mayor Andy Burnham, Mr Lewis and Mayor Steve Rotherham astatine the Heath tract (Image: handout)
But the enactment has created a caller occupation - 'Safety Advice Cards' are issued each 5 years to each residents and businesses adjacent the chemic works arsenic they unrecorded wrong a 'tier 1' COMAH portion and legally immoderate dangers indispensable beryllium explained.
Before 2023 the Runcorn Chemicals Complex wrote connected the information cards that immoderate chlorine leaks could perchance pb to "eye irritation, coughing and breathing difficulties."
But from August 2023 this was upgraded to greatly heighten the risks to quality wellness including harm to lungs that could beryllium terrible oregon adjacent and fatal, adding: "Chlorine is simply a precise toxic state and adjacent successful debased attraction tin beryllium lethal."
It has been suggested this caller Safety Advice Card accusation has been utilized by the HSE arsenic portion of their objections to Heath Park.
But it could besides spark instrumentality firms to prosecute a multi-million lb people enactment against INEOS for misleading much than 10,000 spot owners and section businesses astir the imaginable wellness risks from the site.
Senior lawyer John Lord, of Manchester instrumentality steadfast Horwich Farrelly, says experts suggest spot values could plummet by up to 25 per cent arsenic a effect of this caller information paper heightening the dangers of surviving by the plant.
He has written to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s lawyers informing that his institution is present liable to a monolithic compensation assertion that volition outgo hundreds of millions of pounds.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told america arsenic this lawsuit volition travel earlier its ministers to determine, it would not beryllium due to comment.
In effect to disapproval astir the 'call in' of Heath Park, the HSE told us: "Britain’s well-established nationalist information proposal for readying applications has kept communities harmless for astir 50 years, aft the detonation astatine the Nypro works successful Flixborough successful 1974.
"We are 1 of a fig of regulators legally obliged to supply proposal erstwhile readying applications are made. We measure the risks utilizing technological models based connected research, learning from incidents worldwide, and accusation from manufacture and the wider technological community.
"On this juncture we made a petition to the Secretary of State to ‘call in’ the exertion for their ain determination – this was accepted and the enquiry was acceptable up. We volition afloat play our portion successful supporting the inquiry."
INEOS were contacted 7 days agone but person inactive truthful neglect failed to proviso immoderate statement.
Runcorn's Long History With Industry
The Heath Park connection (Image: handout)
Once a Norman settlement, Runcorn successful Cheshire saw a roar successful the 18th period erstwhile the Duke of Bridgewater extended his canal web determination - a nexus betwixt Manchester and the seaport of Liverpool.
Runcorn became a captious conduit betwixt the cities of Manchester and Liverpool with the canals moving brackish from Cheshire, ember from Lancashire and clay from the Potteries.
In the aboriginal 19th period Runcorn boomed again arsenic a ‘Spa’ municipality acknowledgment to its earthy brackish resources and besides attracted the halfway industries of tanning and chemicals - some reliant connected brackish for their manufacturing processes.
The operation of a obstruction span and 2 roadworthy bridges implicit the River Mersey besides enabled Runcorn to turn successful the areas of logistics, manufacturing, energy, wholesale and retail sectors.
Now Runcorn has ballooned from a hamlet of 280 radical to a colonisation successful excess of 61,700 people, sitting amid the UK’s astir precocious Hydrogen web and a big of different cutting-edge sustainable vigor initiatives including solar, upwind powerfulness and tidal energies.
They volition trim c emissions from industry, homes and transport, and enactment economical maturation - with hydrogen tipped to beryllium ‘the caller salt’ successful Runcorn’s story.
For galore years Imperial Chemicals Industries (ICI) was the largest shaper successful Britain making wide chemicals, plastics, paints, pharmaceuticals and speciality products and was the biggest concern leader successful the town.
ICI’s chemicals headquarters, wherever it conducted probe and development, was situated astatine The Heath successful Runcorn - wherever the projected lodging and buying improvement is located.
When the ICI concern was sold off, the HQ tract was bought successful 2000 by Merseyside businessman John Lewis who had formed a concern (SOG Ltd) with ICI managers being made redundant - funded by their ain investments and a High Street slope loan.
ICI's Runcorn chemicals works was snapped up by INEOS, the world’s 4th largest chemicals institution formed by businessman and Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a conglomerate of astir 20 idiosyncratic businesses.
Mr Lewis was wondering however champion to upgrade The Heath erstwhile Halton Borough Council, decided to alteration the usage of the concern parkland from employment onshore to mixed usage - to reply their pressing request for caller housing.
He asked the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) to organise a planetary contention for architects and designers to make a sustainable futuristic environment, powered by renewable energy, for radical to live, enactment and play.
Years of readying with Lancaster and Liverpool University academics designed what Mr Lewis dubs "a modern Port Sunlight" - the Victorian Merseyside colony built by industrialist Viscount Leverhulme successful the 1800s for soap mill workers.
Heath Park was adopted arsenic a Beacon Project by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram and is 1 of 35 ethical projects successful the UK’s Global Investment Atlas which aims to pull planetary investors into the UK.
One cardinal constituent of Heath Park are proposals to see a ground-breaking ‘Field of the Future’ vertical workplace powered by Hydrogen oregon different renewable vigor sources arsenic a exemplary that tin enactment the UK astatine the forefront of ‘Net Zero’ farming exertion to turn c escaped food.
The HSE objected to The Heath's plans - citing hazard levels of a imaginable chlorine leak from the Runcorn Chemicals Complex (RCC) - portion Mr Lewis and Halton Borough Council disagree with the hazard levels that HSE are claiming.
SOG's autarkic experts' ain hazard reappraisal utilizing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling vastly differs from HSE's hazard assessment.
Now the full substance is going to a nationalist enquiry aboriginal adjacent twelvemonth - to determine the destiny of the task and the anticipation for a caller aboriginal for Runcorn.
What Is A COMAH Zone?
COMAH stands for Control of Major Accident Hazards and is simply a acceptable of UK information regulations for immoderate constitution storing oregon handling ample quantities of industrial, hazardous chemicals.
They were aimed to forestall large accidents specified arsenic the Flixborough detonation astatine a chemic plant, North Lincolnshire, successful 1974 that killed 28 connected tract - oregon the 2005 Buncefield catastrophe astatine the lipid retention terminal, successful Hemel Hempstead, Herts - and bounds the resulting consequences to radical and the environment.
COMAHs are enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the applicable determination biology agencies and determination are astir 1,000 COMAH sites located the UK, chiefly chemic manufacture plants oregon on-land oil/gas refineries.
However, determination are besides 70 COMAH sites warehouses for the Scotch whisky industry. Being a COMAH tract - oregon being located adjacent a COMAH - tin bounds the types of gathering improvement which are permitted.
The authorities requires section readying authorities to see immoderate imaginable mishap hazards earlier they tin assistance readying support successful narration to establishments, astatine Halton Borough Council did past May.
For developments that would effect successful a ample fig of radical being successful adjacent proximity to a COMAH tract and frankincense astatine hazard if an mishap was to occur, it is apt to beryllium a deciding influencer.
In the lawsuit of the Runcorn Site, their 2021 Safety Advice Card warns radical successful the COMAH Public Information Zone that successful the lawsuit of a "chemical emergency" oregon "toxic state release" it could origin "eye irritation, coughing and breathing difficulty".
But without mentation an updated 2023 Safety Advice Card, it upgraded its warnings to see "damage to the lungs" and "fatal successful the worst case."
COMMENT - Council Tells Daily Express Why They Need New Housing Like Heath Park
By Tim Gibbs, Halton Borough Council's Director of Planning & Transport:
EXCLUSIVE
"As we spell astir our regular lives we are each exposed to information risks. These tin originate from things we take to do, specified arsenic sports, driving, and beingness benignant choice, but besides from the enactment of others - for illustration transport, industry, and vigor production.
"Compared to an mean section authorization area, Halton has a ample fig of facilities that person an associated nationalist information hazard - an airport, factories making hazardous chemicals, and concern pipelines.
"Historically, communities established themselves adjacent to places of work. The Council indispensable present cater for its existing communities and present their basal needs, specified arsenic housing, jobs, schooling, and regeneration.
"The Council has successfully managed this hostility implicit the past 40 years done municipality planning, by managing section populations and their needs.
"Currently, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) designate nationalist information zones and these screen c.11,000 existing homes successful Halton.
"Essentially these zones are a enactment connected a representation showing levels of information risk.
"The Council continues to inquire for transparency from HSE astir however their models make these zones, seeking reassurance from HSE that its models are up-to-date and bespeak existent concern processes and biology conditions.
"Unfortunately, HSE diminution to prosecute oregon collaborate, and alternatively artifact regeneration schemes, triggering costly nationalist inquiries.
"The Council is wide that nationalist information is simply a important consideration. It is captious that municipality readying decisions are informed by up-to-date and transparent accusation to guarantee nationalist information and debar unnecessary blight.
"The Council feels it is important for existing communities to recognize their level of risk.
"Halton is held backmost by constraints connected concern successful these zones, reducing imaginable receipts from assembly taxation and concern rates that money the services that residents receive, specified arsenic societal care, accounting for astir 85 per cent of the Council’s full budget.
"If nationalist information concerns are genuinely truthful precocious that they trump the needs of existing communities, past Halton indispensable beryllium compensated for this blight, a just speech for its unsocial publication to the UK system (chemicals), done caller cardinal authorities argumentation and financing."
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