Gleeson cleared of Dorset beach asbestos dump

Gleeson Homes has been cleared of any part in the mystery surrounding the dumping of asbestos on one of Dorset's top beaches.

A large section of Poole's renowned Flaghead Chine beach   was sealed off last week while health inspectors attempted to discover the extent of asbestos contamination. The inspectors made the discovery on Tuesday 20 January while checking piles of discoloured sand that has been spread up to 1m-thick across the beach.

Peter Pawlowski, head of Poole's consumer protection services, said: "Our preliminary investigations have shown that white asbestos, which was a common material until the 1980s, is present in small quantities."

The Environment Agency and the Health & Safety Executive were alerted to the discovery. Enquiries were then started to find out who was responsible.

Initially, it was claimed that last October, Poole Council agreed that an unnamed builder working on a development next to the Sandbanks Hotel on Shore Road could deposit sand, which had been dug from the footings for an underground car park, on to the beach between Flaghead Chine and Shore Road.
Gleeson Homes and Poole Council have issued a joint statement, confirming that the housebuilder is the developer responsible for building work at Shore Road.

The statement confirmed that, as a result of an agreement and under the guidance of Poole Council, sand excavated by the contractor working at Shore Road was placed on a 250m section of the beach in October and November 2003.  The building site had been certified asbestos-free in February 2003.

Enquiries by the council have demonstrated that Gleeson Homes correctly followed the necessary requirements.

Pawlowski added: "We had a very productive meeting with the developer and contractors and have checked and confirmed that all their certification is in order. At the moment we cannot be sure of the source of the asbestos material and further work is underway to try to establish this."

The contaminated sand will be removed within the next three weeks.