A PROPOSED new estate in Witney should not go ahead as building homes too close to an existing gas storage facility could be “dangerous”, say councillors.

Gladman Developments submitted plans in August to West Oxfordshire District Council to build 270 homes off Burford Road, above the River Windrush.

The Windrush Valley site is next to the Flogas gas storage facility at Apley Works.

Witney Town Council planning committee chairman Alan Beames said Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines showed if there was an explosion the houses, which he believed would be as close as 25 metres to the facility, could be at risk.

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He said: “I would be extremely concerned about the safety of anyone living there.

“It is not that the site is unsafe, as it is well managed, but in the event of an explosion the potential for casualties is quite high.”

More than 60 residents attended a town council planning committee meeting last month to discuss the proposal.

Councillors, who decided to write to Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron to outline their opposition, organised a survey, in which everyone who attended opposed the plans.

Mr Beames said there was an explosion at the gas facility in 1976 caused by a single gas canister.

The blast smashed windows in houses in Burford Road.

He referred to the HSE guidelines for safety and environmental standards for fuel storage sites.

The document analysed how to prevent another explosion similar to the Buncefield fire at Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal in Hemel Hempstead, in December 2005.

It said there was a high risk of fatalities to people within 250 metres of a facility if there was an explosion.

District council spokeswoman Sara Long said: “We have notified the HSE about the proposal and we will look carefully at the HSE’s response when we receive it.”

Mr Beames, who said the sloped layout of the Windrush Valley site is similar to Buncefield, believed Gladman should have been made to carry out an environmental impact survey to address the issue.

The district council requested one but was overruled by the Government’s Department for Communities and Local Government.

HSE will be consulted as part of the planning application, and the district council aims to make a decision by late November.

 

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