Parents to stage gas mask protest at public exhibition over fears of child safety

A 30-strong group of protesters wearing gas masks and white overalls to will be stationed at the Grand Hotel at 5pm on Tuesday, July 13 outside a public meeting to voice their concerns about the proposed development for Hollicombe Gas Works.

The Preston Residents and Parents Against Toxic Dust action group will show strong opposition to disturbing the site adjoining Preston Primary School, which contains highly toxic chemicals including cyanide, arsenic, mercury and carcinogenic polyhydrocarbons.

Dr Andrew Robinson of the Preston Residents and Parents Against Toxic Dust action group told the PRSD: “We are deeply concerned about the considerable threat to the long-term health of families within a wide ranging area of the site.

“What is more, the impact on the local environment and the effect on an already congested traffic route has yet to be calculated or accounted for.”

Torbay Council officials faced the brunt of concerns from more than 200 worried residents in June at a meeting, which Midas representatives did not attend.

Following on from the debate, Midas Homes’ managing director, Bill Cawse, told the Herald Express that the ‘biggest problem had been the delay in reassuring residents’.

In the same article it’s said contaminated soil ‘would be damped down and made safe in covered “biopics” before being removed from the site’, and that of the 24,000 cubic metres of soil that would be excavated, 8,000 cubic metres was contaminated, while a full-time chemist would be monitoring beyond the boundaries.

The latest literature from Midas distributed to residents makes the claim that ‘the removal of contaminants (a process known as remediation) will be safe and efficient, causing no health problems for adults or children alike’, a statement which the residents feel holds no guarantees, and has done little to allay community concerns or address the issues raised by Torbay Council’s own consultants.

More than 470 people have now joined the action group Preston Residents and Parents Against Toxic Dust which runs a Facebook site and has had nearly 300 visits to its YouTube video protest song.

Close to 800 objections to the plans have been lodged with Torbay Council.

In addition, nearly 30 anxious parents have signed a statement indicating they intend to withdraw their children from Preston Primary, a significant 10 percent of the school population, if the development goes ahead and safety fears are not allayed.

“We’ve all been made brutally aware of the hazards of toxic dust from sites such as Corby and even the post 9/11 trauma,” said Andrew.

“We simply do not believe that damping down the soil is going to be sufficient to contain the problem. We cannot understand why this demonstrable level of opposition has not been enough to protect our community from the potentially disastrous consequences of this development.”

The two-day public exhibition staged by Midas Homes takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 13 and 14 at the Grand Hotel, Torquay.

For more, check out the Hollicombe Action Group

Meanwhile, The Hollicombe Protest Song, the Midas Touch:

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