A complaint has formally been raised with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman over serious concerns about how the Environment Agency has handled the situation at Droppingwell Tip.
Following long running correspondence over the regulation of a borehole close to the site.
The complaint centres on incorrect advice from the Environment Agency about a key monitoring borehole (BH05) located on Council-owned land. The Agency had previously told the Council that the borehole was not essential to the site's permit — advice that has since been contradicted.
Council Leader, Cllr Chris Read, has been calling on the EA to apologise for its confusing information and propose a solution – which the Agency has so far declined to do.
Councillor Chris Read, Leader of Rotherham Council, said:
“Twice over the last few years, councillors have declared no confidence in the Environment Agency, and yet still we find ourselves in the bizarre position where the Agency claims a regulatory test is both necessary and unnecessary at the same time, refuses to acknowledge that that is what they have done, or to take action to require the tip operator to comply with the conditions in its licence. I have been clear throughout, that if the use of borehole 5, which falls on council land, is a precondition to reopen the tip, then we will not allow it. Now it’s time we got a straight answer to a straight question.”
The Council’s complaint highlights a series of failures that have undermined public confidence and potentially leaves residents exposed to risk in the future, if the site returns to use.
MP Sarah Champion, who has supported the formal complaint, said:
“I’ve consistently opposed the reopening of the tip at Droppingwell and am deeply concerned that it has been given the go ahead in the face of staunch opposition from the local community, local businesses, elected councillors, RMBC and myself as the Member of Parliament. The local community are understandably sceptical about the approach taken by Environment Agency. Their confidence has been damaged still further by the EA’s contradictory statements to RMBC. The Agency’s responses have been desperately poor and RMBC have been left with no alternative but to complain to the Ombudsman.”
The Council is calling on the Environment Agency to:
- Admit there has been a change in their position and take full responsibility.
- Apologise to both the Council and the public for sharing misleading information.
- Explain how they plan to fix the situation.
- Carry out a proper investigation into the permit breach and any related health risks.
- Share a clear plan for how they will monitor and regulate the site in future.
Rotherham Council remains committed to doing everything in its power to protect the health and wellbeing of residents and to holding national agencies to account where they fall short.