National Grid Property and its consultants, Komex, worked hard to ensure that the community was involved with the development of the gasworks site at Park Avenue, Withernsea. Withernsea Millennium Green Trust (WMGT) - a trust comprising Withernsea Town Council, Withernsea Community Trust, and both the Regeneration Partnership and Children and Family Action Group for Withernsea and South Holderness - participated fully in the design and implementation of the remediation strategy. This involvement enabled possible future site use layouts to be adjusted to the specific conditions. It also facilitated initiatives such as the retention of a concrete base of an above-ground gas holder for use as an area of hard standing within the park.
After completion of the clean-up WMGT was successful in its application to the Countryside Agency for funding of some £32,000 to enable 'greening' of the site, as the first phase of the site's redevelopment as a Millennium Green.
The Agency is now working with its partners in the locally-based Withernsea & South Holderness Play Action Trust, which has secured further funding of £147,000 from the National Lottery Charity Board to take the project to its next stage, incorporating appropriate play park equipment for use by the local community. The Chairman of the Withernsea Millennium Green Trust was awarded an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours List for services rendered in support of the local community project.
The gasworks were first commissioned in 1906 and produced coal-based 'town gas' over a 60-year period for the small seaside town, 17 miles east of Hull. Between 1928 and 1966, a further holder was erected to supplement the initial single below-ground gas holder. The site was also used as a licensed landfill site between 1984 and 1993, utilising the original below-ground holder base. In 1998, National Grid Property began discussions with a group of local people who were keen to see the Park Avenue site redeveloped as a Millennium Green, providing a much needed public open space.
As Withernsea is the most northerly point on the UK mainland crossed by the Greenwich Meridian, National Grid Property thought a Millennium Green, incorporating a children's play park area, would be a fitting end use.
Given its visibility and public interest in the site, National Grid Property took care to keep local residents informed about the nature and scope of the works. National Grid Property worked with WMGT to ensure that all project details were both aired with and understood by the local community. As well as regular site meetings with WMGT, a detailed information newsletter describing the works and the site's redevelopment as a Millennium Green was widely circulated. The newsletter also contained a list of questions and answers fully addressing the contamination issues on the site.
Before and during the project appropriate liaison was also carried out with the regional office of the Environment Agency and with the Environmental Health Department of East Riding Council to ensure agreement on the site remediation design, its implementation, and subsequent validation.
