BRAINTREE Council has insisted contamination will have to be considered as part of assessments into any plans for two huge new prisons in Wethersfield – despite requests from the Ministry of Justice to ignore this aspect.

Leader of Braintree Council Graham Butland spoke on the matter after the concerns were raised by Alan MacKenzie, chairman of campaign group Stop Wethersfield Airfield Prisons (SWAP).

The alleged contamination is said to come from polyfluoroalkyl substances – known as PFAS or forever chemicals – from firefighting foam used during real and practise firefighting of aircraft when it was used as an airbase from the Second World War through the Cold War.

An initial geo-environmental appraisal in 2021 from the Ministry of Justice says no risks from contamination or hazardous gas were identified, however, further surveys are proposed.

But after asking the MoJ for details of contamination on the site, a Freedom of Information request was refused to SWAP, on the basis the information would affect a ‘legitimate economic interest’ and "could also prejudice the Ministry of Defence’s ability to achieve value for money should they choose to sell the land".

Mr Butland said even though the MoJ wants to reduce the scope of the environmental impact assessment the council will insist contamination will be included in any assessment.

He said: “Contamination on the site is clearly something which this council would take very seriously.

“Those who have read the environmental statement scoping paper will see the MoJ wish to descope the area of contamination from the environmental statement.

“This council requires it should be considered as part of any future environmental statement to ensure more detailed work is undertaken and the impact of any contamination is carefully and fully understood.

“We also have been assured as part of any decommissioning of the site the MoD undertake a full review and survey of the site to ensure it is cleared of specialist materials and equipment including unexploded ordnance.”

Over a year has gone by since the MoJ announced its proposed plans to build two prisons on the Wethersfield airfield site.

The proposal is for one Category B training prison and one Category C resettlement prison to accommodate around 1,700 prisoners each.

The council and communities are still waiting on whether the MoJ is going to submit a planning application for the proposals.