Contaminated land case study - Wigston

Oadby and Wigston Borough Council has confirmed that residents of 30 properties in Wigston’s Little Hill estate have been given legal notice that their properties are situated on land that is contaminated.

The estate is built on the site of the old Great Wigston Gas Works, which formerly extracted gas from coal, a process that left behind chemicals including tar derivatives and lead.

The Council is currently in the process of identifying who should pay for the remediation of the site and is investigating companies and individuals that have been linked to the site in the past. However, they have already stated that if its search proves unsuccessful, taxpayers or those living in the affected homes could end up footing the bill.

Residents are becoming increasingly concerned by the length of time it’s taking to conclude the investigations, which began in 2006. One resident commented: ‘The sooner they can sort this, the sooner we can get on with our lives’.

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