Businessman wanted to buy recycling site before it set on fire

Investigations are ongoing into the cause of the fire at the former Trent Valley Recycling site, off Sandy Lane, Worksop, which started on Saturday, July 28. However a businessman has been trying to buy the abandoned site so he can repurpose it. Matthew Berry said: “I have brought a few of these sites which have been abandoned and I have paid to clear them and then relet them as industrial units. That is what I do as a business. “The company who owned it went bankrupt so The Crown ended up with it. I told them I wanted to buy it for £1 and that I was happy to cover the legal fees and clear it. “It has cost me £15,000 up to this point. “I was told the Enviroment Agency have to be happy with it so I set up a meeting with them. But the Environment Agency said they didn’t think I should buy it. It has just sat there for six months and now it has set on fire. “It’s ridiculous. At this time of year when there are waste in piles like that it is going to set on fire. It is another great pile of mess. It is not in the public interest at all to leave it. “I have got the funds to prove I can clear it. I have done this many times.” A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “The Agency met with Matthew Berry to discuss his plans for the former Trent Valley Recycling site and possible requirements for permits. “During these discussions the plan was not deemed to be realistic in terms of waste disposal costs or permitting requirements. “We have received no further correspondence from Mr Berry with regard to the site.” John Mann, Bassetlaw MP, who has been lobbying ministers to get the site cleared, said: “It will cost £5 million to move the waste and no one is prepared to put that up for a site that is valueless. “We got the most dangerous stuff removed, the polyurethane foam, as it was very serious for people health.”