30 April 2024
Central Government has given Lancaster City Council a grant of £764,916, - about half the money the council spent clearing up the aftermath of the Supaskips Fire that blazed for over three weeks in December.
The former Supaskips building on the Lune Industrial Estate had been used to store unsorted waste so presented a huge challenge to the Fire Service and the multi agency team responsible for bringing the fire under control.
To help Fire Services contain the fire - and mitigate against the environmental and human impact of the smoke plume, the Council decided to pay the cost of opening up one side of the building and moving as much of the remaining waste as possible.
As a result, the Council ended up paying a bill of approximately £1.4 million from their financial reserves, even though this was not their responsibility, and there was no certainty that they would be able to recoup any of this sizeable expenditure.
Councillor Cllr Mandy Bannon, one of the three Greens representing Marsh ward where the Supaskips site is located, said:
“As local ward councillors, we were hugely relieved that the Council prioritised the health of local residents and stumped up the cash upfront in order to remove the excessive amount of waste on site. We think it’s only right that Central Government should contribute to these costs, and so we are delighted with this payment.”
The team of Green ward councillors worked hard to keep residents informed, including on Social Media, through assisting Council Officers with letters which were delivered to hundreds of houses affected by smoke, and organising a drop-in session for concerned local residents.
The leader of the Council praised the efforts of Green Marsh ward councillors, County Councillors, local MPs, and the Chief Executive of the Council, making it clear that the efforts of everybody concerned contributed to the decision of the funding being awarded.
The City Council continues to work towards securing further recovery of the financial outlay; to finding answers to residents' understandable questions around how this could have happened at all; and looking at taking steps to take public ownership of the site.
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