Letter from Cllr Alison Knight, Lead Member for Planning, Development & Property. Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead

 “Although the Shanly Group is responsible for the remediation of Badnells Pit and they are obliged to protect local residents, I fully recognise that Maidonians may have renewed concerns following the recent case in Corby. However the remediation of Badnells Pit is different from the Corby Steel Works for a range of reasons including: it will be undertaken by a specialist, experienced contractor, unlike at Corby; as part of the planning permission the developer fully committed to delivering a range of measures to protect residents and has recently re-confirmed they will be delivered in full; the Council will have an Environmental Protection Officer based at the site to supervise throughout the works; and the Council will not be commissioning the work – this will be done by the Shanly Group. Aside from any moral obligation, the company has very clear commercial reasons to carry through the safety measures as agreed and required.

 Whilst we may not be pleased that the scheme is going ahead, the outcome for local people will be far improved if we now work with the developer and the local residents group to minimise disruption and I would encourage everyone to attend the developer’s information afternoon/evening on the 10th September at the Thames Hotel.”