£765k help for Lancaster Supaskips fire as ‘questions are asked about Environment Agency’

After the long-running fire at Lancaster’s SupaSkips waste storage site in the winter, Lancaster City Council will get over £750,000 from the government towards emergency response costs.

A fire at the Supaskips waste storage building began in early December and burned for almost three weeks. But questions are being asked about the Environment Agency’s role whether things could gave been done differently regarding waste storage and monitoring at the Lancaster site, city councillors have been told.

The city council now controls access to the site and Lancaster MP Cat Smith is ‘pushing’ the Environment Agency regarding its work, the full council heard this week.

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And the public want strong enforcement action taken on businesses which break regulations, one councillor said. A government grant of £765,000 is to be given to the city council, which had to spend its own reserves in responding to the huge blaze over the winter.

Emergency work included paying for demolition workers to partly knock down some buildings, to let fire-fighters get closer to the blaze.

But questions around the financial impact on the council and the different responsibilities of authorities have arisen since.

Labour Coun Phillip Black. the leader of Lancaster City Council, gave an update this week.

He thanked a range of people and parties including Philippa Williamson of Lancashire County Council, local Green Party councillors. Morecambe Conservative MP David Morris and Lancaster Labour MP Cat Smith.

He said: “I want to emphasise the grant from the government to help us with the costs of dealing with the SupaSkips emergency. It was quite clear the government was not going to do anything about the [separate] landfill tax. That’s a burden for the council that was unable to be overcome.

“However, this grant will allow us to meet those additional expenses at a time when we are facing extreme financial pressures. Every penny counts.

"To be able to say we have mitigated this situation and got this money back into our reserves is an enormous achievement. Think about what £750,000 equates to staff or parks or different council services?

“It’s also a validation of the approach we took. Not to quibble and point fingers. But to say this is about residents, the environment and businesses being able to operate without prolonged disruption.”

He added: “Now we will enter a period of reflection. That will involve all stakeholders to review the emergency response and see where improvements might be able to be made. Some organisations may look at what else can be done? No stone will be left unturned to see if other partners can shoulder some of the burden.”

Conservative Coun Andrew Gardiner said: “This is a question for the public, to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Can you assure this chamber that the council will take action and prosecute companies which take risks? I think the public wants to see strong action and enforcement.”

Coun Black replied: “The council has some strong enforcement powers and will always seek to use them for the befit of the community. For example, in the past week we have changed the constitution to allow officers to take access of the former Revolution nightclub in Lancaster.

“However, there are limits to what we can do. We sometimes have to use other authorities. When it comes to SupaSkips, the Environment Agency has some questions to answer, from the point of where they realised SupaSkips was not storing waste properly, had exceeded the limit, and about what they did to mitigate risks?

“I’m glad to say that this has not been lost on Cat Smith MP. She is pushing the Environment Agency, trying to get recognition retrospectively that things could have been done differently.

“Regarding the site, the council has secured it. We now control who has access in and out. It’s less likely to allow people inside who might start a fire. Also there is less waste inside and fire gaps have been created. It is being regularly monitored by the fire service. Any subsequent incident would be minor.

“I hope I have reassured you that further emergencies are unlikely and that all organisations are living-up to their responsibilities.”

Coun Gardiner added: “Can the update on Revolution be sent to all councillors, so we are all aware. Councillors across the district are getting asked lots of questions about it.”