Persimmon restarts work on Sunderland housing site after legal notice is served over dust concerns

Sunderland City Council said today, Tuesday, June 1, it had served Temporary Stop Notice on Persimmon Homes on Friday, May 28, following concerns it had breach planning rules at Hillfield Meadows off Silksworth Road.

The development for 250 homes was granted planning permission in November 2019, with conditions agreed with the developer.

The council said these covered adequate protection against dust, with its officers monitoring the development and "responding to complaints from local residents on a range of issues.

Now Persimmon has said it has held talks with the authority over the matter, with work now continuing.

A spokesperson for the firm said: “We appreciate the inconvenience that can be caused by construction and take all our environmental responsibilities very seriously.

“We have met with the planning enforcement team from the council on site today and they have not raised any points of concern and have given permission for works to continue.

“Persimmon Homes has and continues to work closely with planning enforcement officers at Sunderland City Council to monitor dust levels at our Hillfield Meadows development.

"The results from dust monitoring stations on the development are collected and analysed by an independent environmental consultant and shared with the planning authority and we have not been made aware of any recent or ongoing issues prior to this notice being served.

“As part of our commitment to responsible construction we have a water tanker on site during construction hours and it is deployed as the predominant means of dust control.

“Despite the exceptionally warm weather over the bank holiday weekend the dust monitoring stations on the site boundary next to a residential area both recorded dust levels significantly below the Environment Agency’s trigger for dust being ‘noticeable’.

The council said the order was needed to secure the “cessation of all activities generating excessive dust such as excavations, earth moving operations, and construction and delivery vehicle movements except where the agreed dust mitigation measures are employed.”

Sunderland City Council has been contacted for a comment in response to Persimmon’s claims but have yet to provide a statement.

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