Persimmon Homes fined for water pollution in Abergavenny

Building work at the company’s Willow Court estate in Llantilio Portholey, north of Abergavenny, sent silt and contaminated water into the local watercourse between 2019 and 2021.

At Newport Magistrates Court today (Tuesday), a judge said the offences showed a “persistent negligent failure” of the firm to address pollution concerns raised repeatedly by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the nation’s environmental agency.

Persimmon Homes Ltd, which had a turnover of £2.7 billion last year, admitted eight offences under the Environmental Regulations 2016.

NRW first sent Persimmon a warning letter about pollution risks in June 2018, but during a series of inspections and site visits the following year, its officers found new and ongoing problems with construction site water making its way into a local river and waterways.

At times, officers found Persimmon had tried to prevent the pollution, but Jon Tarrant, representing NRW, said these were often “ineffective”.

Some “temporary” measures such as using hay bales and special silt netting were on later occasions either “removed” or had “collapsed”, respectively, and failed to stop finer silt entering the watercourse, he told the court.

Images collected by Natural Resources Wales when officers investigated pollution at the Willow Court development in Abergavenny. Picture: NRW

A “lagoon” was created to trap sediment water on the building site, but its effectiveness was hampered when construction vehicles drove through it, “stirring up the silt”.

Although Persimmon workers “set about trying to stop the problem… the prosecution say it shouldn’t have happened in the first place”, Mr Tarrant told the court.

Dominic Kay, representing Persimmon Homes Ltd, said the firm “takes its environmental responsibilities extremely seriously” and the case represented “an isolated incident for this company”.

Persimmon had given “lengthy considerations” to environmental matters before the Willow Court project began, and when NRW identified concerns the building firm took external advice and “deployed the measures they believed [were] the necessary measures”.

This included digging trenches, opening drains and tarmacking construction roads.

Subsequent pollution problems raised by NRW in 2019 happened “a different points” around the Willow Court site and were not a continuation of earlier incidents.

Images collected by Natural Resources Wales when officers investigated pollution at the Willow Court development in Abergavenny. Picture: NRW

Mr Kay said Persimmon “accepts there should have been a greater degree supervision and control” at the site, but added the 2019 concerns came after a period of especially heavy rainfall, and other incidents, he argued, were caused by “something unexpected or beyond [the firm’s] control”.

District judge David Parsons said the offences “took place over a really significant period of time” and Persimmon’s attempts to tackle the pollution had been “inadequate”.

He fined Persimmon £53,000 for each of the eight offences, making a total fine of £424,000. Persimmon must also pay £9,161 in court costs and a £170 statutory surcharge.

‘Deep regret’

Away from the court, Persimmon apologised for the Willow Court incidents and said it had made improvements to its way of working as a result.

“We would like to sincerely apologise for these incidents which occurred some years ago in Abergavenny,” a spokesperson for Persimmon Homes East Wales said.

“While we are relieved that there has been no material harm caused to the local environment, and it has been acknowledged that they were not deliberate acts, we fully understand their potential significance.

“These incidents should not have happened and we have made a number of changes to local personnel and procedures in South East Wales to improve the on-site implementation of appropriate preventative measures.

“As a company we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and express our deep regret that these incidents took place.”

Collapsed silt netting and a hay bale. Picture NRW

‘A clear message’

Speaking after the court case concluded, NRW environment officer Anthony Bruten said: “Environmental regulations are in place to help protect people, wildlife, our rivers, and land.

“The construction industry has a duty of care to the communities in which they operate, to ensure the correct controls and safeguards are in place in order to prevent incidents such as these occurring.

“In this case, Persimmon Homes’ failure to put in place suitable mitigation methods meant that silt run off from the site continued to negatively impact the nearby water courses and the River Gavenny over a period of 10 months.

“I hope this fine will send out a clear message that environmental legislation is to be taken seriously. We will not hesitate to take appropriate action against those who disregard regulations and jeopardise the natural environment we all know and love.”