Kiveton Park enforcement notice over 'unauthorised' waste at blaze site

Illegally stored waste at the Kiveton Park site repeatedly reignited to keep the fire burning for months

The owners of an industrial estate near Sheffield which was the scene of a fire which burned for four months have been told to clear the site.

The blaze broke out at the Kiveton Park site in September 2020.

Rotherham Council has now served an enforcement notice which comes into force on 14 July.

It requires the site's owners to stop using it to store "unauthorised" waste within seven days and to clear it within six months.

Fire crews spent four months from September to the start of January tackling the blaze

The site is owned by Best Holdings Ltd, but it is believed it leases it out.

The council said in the notice that in its view there had been a "breach of planning control" within the last 10 years.

In its enforcement notice, it said "unauthorised" waste had been deposited in a building on the site and there was no evidence of any recycling activities taking place.

Following the fire, "significant quantities of the waste material" from within the building were removed and piled up on nearby land, according to the council notice.

The enforcement action was being taken due to concerns about the release of contaminants to adjoining land, including the Chesterfield Canal, and the visual impact on the area, the council said.

Baled waste pictured at the site before the fire

Bob Forsythe, from the Kiveton Park Fire Residents Group, said he hoped the enforcement notice would be "a good start".

"They've got to move the rubbish off the site and clear the whole thing up," he said.

Mr Forsythe said residents were still concerned about the risk of future fires at the site due to the amount of waste.

"Nothing has happened. It is still the same - lots of rubbish - and there's rubbish been coming in as well."

He added that the last six months since the fire had been extinguished had been "bliss".

"We've had no smoke or fumes. We can keep the windows open."

Best Holdings has been approached for comment.