The Scottish Government has granted a reprieve of ‘up to £300,000’ to the residents of Blanefield for the removal of hazardous waste around their homes, Finance Secretary John Swinney announced on Tuesday (25 February).

After meeting with the residents on Tuesday morning, Swinney pledged to give £300,000 towards cleaning up the traces of lead and arsenic found in the grounds of homes in the Stirlingshire village.

These properties, built on the site of a ‘former Victorian calico print works’, were found to have traces of lead and arsenic in the ground during a routine sample of land by Stirling Council in 2012.

The UK Government then told the 13 householders that they would have to pay ‘sums equivalent to half the original value of their homes’ in order to excavate the soil and take the hazardous waste to landfill. Under the ‘Contaminated Land regime’ the local authority is expected to make the polluter pay the cost of remediation; however, the polluter is ‘often no longer accessible’. In these cases the council is entitled to ask the landowner or householder to pay.

The quoted total clean up cost is £609,000 of which £300,000 is Landfill Tax. It is the cost of landfilling the waste that the Scottish Government has said it will cover.

“It is inexcusable that residents affected by the contaminated land have not only had to worry about the risks to their health but they have had to live in fear of being held financially responsible for the cost of the removal of the waste”, said Swinney.

“That’s why we have now pledged up to £300,000 to help residents meet the costs of cleaning up this contaminated land. Landfill Tax and the decision to exempt disposals of contamination is currently a matter for Westminster. If the UK Government waived the tax costs associated with the clean-up when the lead and arsenic was first discovered, residents would not have had such an ordeal.”

He added that once Landfill Tax authority is transferred to Scotland (in April 2015), the Scottish Government would ‘ensure that other residents do no find themselves in this situation’.

He concluded: “I now hope our contribution means the hazardous waste can be removed in a timely fashion, and people in Blanefield can get on with their lives.”

Martin McGougan, a resident of Blanefield, said: “A weight has been lifted off our shoulders today. The last two years have been very stressful for me and the 12 other neighbours involved. We’ve had huge bills that we’ve had no ability to pay hanging over our heads and it’s been a terrible financial and emotional burden for us.

“The Scottish Government’s fantastic contribution means that for the first time in two years we can take our lives off pause and get on with normal life again. We are absolutely delighted with the Scottish Government’s contribution of up to £300,000. It’s a huge amount of money to us and means all the work can now be done.”

He applauded the work of Stirling Council, residents within the affected areas, the Strathblane Community Council, and local MSP Bruce Crawford, for their work in championing the residents’ cause.

Stirling Council has agreed to pay £125,000 as a contribution to the cost and the UK Government has now agreed to provide funding of £255,000.

Read more about the Scottish Contaminated Land regime.