Controversial pit to be restored to farmland

THE Government is due to submit a planning application for the proposed restoration of the Ash Moor Pit near Petrockstowe which was built to take 400,000 foot and mouth carcasses but never used.

Animal health minister Elliot Morley announced in Parliament this week that the site, which cost 5.6 million to build and £20,000 a week to maintain, would be filled in and restored to farmland.

The move has been welcomed by local residents, West Devon MP John Burnett and Devon County Council, who have been campaigning for the pit to be restored since the foot and mouth crisis ended.

The controversial pit has been the subject of local protest because of potential risks to human health and the environment. Their fears stemmed from the lack of an environmental impact assessment and protests by villagers included a vigil outside the site for many months.

Mr Burnett said there had been a vast amount of anguish, concern and worry about the pit and it had been a 'massive waste of money'.

'This move to restore the pit indicates the stand that we all took, that it should never have been built and it was a crassly negligent decision,' he said.

Mr Burnett said it was essential that the restoration plans went before the public. 'People in the area must be allowed to have their say on the restoration,' he said.

The Ash Moor pit was built at the height of the foot and mouth crisis but the problem of disposal in Devon was solved by other means and the pit became a contingency plan.

Concerns were expressed to DEFRA about the 'marshy site' they had chosen for the location of the pit and it was later revealed that the water table at parts of the site was less than five feet underground.

Ministers are expected to propose a 'phased' restoration of the site, which could take several years.

A spokesperson for Devon County Council said the minister's comments were welcomed but the authority was waiting for details of the plan. The council's Development Control Committee was expected to discuss the issue at a meeting yesterday (Wednesday) as the Times went to press.