Landfill summit calls for homes to be 'safe space'

Zane Gbangbola died during severe Thames floods in 2014

A father whose seven-year-old son died during severe floods says homes "should always be a safe space" on the day of a summit about toxic landfills.

Campaigners from more than 20 communities experiencing "severe and sometimes fatal harms from toxic landfill and contaminated water" will speak at Wednesday's Zane's Law summit, organisers said.

They include Kye and Nicole Gbangbola, whose son Zane died after the River Thames flooded their Surrey home in 2014.

His parents disputed the results of an inquest in 2016 and say their son was killed by gas washed out of a former landfill site in Chertsey.

At his inquest, the coroner concluded Zane was killed by carbon monoxide from a petrol pump used to clear flood water from the family home in Chertsey.

Zane's parents will join Dirty Water Campaign, Gas Communities United, Corby Childhood Cancer, and the Environment Secretary Steve Reed at a gathering at the Houses of Parliament.

A Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesperson said: "The case of Zane Gbangbola is tragic, and our thoughts remain with the Gbangbola family."

They added that local authorities had a legal duty to to inspect potentially contaminated sites, require remediation, and maintain a public register of remediated land.

The Environment Agency has been commissioned by Defra to produce a state of contaminated land report, they added, which would inform future policies.

The coalition of landfill campaigns have come together calling for Zane's law, which Mr Gbangbola described as "enforceable law to protect communities from the dangers of toxic landfill and polluted water".

Other speakers will include Des Collins, the solicitor who represented families affected by the toxic waste scandal in Corby, dramatised in the recent Netflix series Toxic Town.

'Action is needed'

Mr Gbangbola told BBC Radio Surrey the summit would bring together campaigns from "all across the country that up until this point have really been unheard".

"When they come together they move through an understanding that it's not only them, there's others across the country, other communities experiencing such harm and death," he added.

He claimed the issues of those living near toxic landfills ranged from respiratory issues, through to birth defects, tumours, neurological and immune system damage and homes which could be valued at zero.

"Our homes should always be a safe space, when you're experiencing these impacts simply from living in proximity to landfill it becomes a time when action is needed," he said.

Baroness Natalie Bennett, who will chair the hybrid meeting, said current UK regulations on contaminated land were "grossly inadequate" and a threat to the safety of many.

Several local authorities have passed motions calling for Zane's Law.