One of the conditions for the 2020 development of the site was that an equivalent site be created elsewhere, the so-called Ecological Mitigation and Compensation.

Translocation is controversial to the point of ridicule by Ecologists and Environmental Scientists. Listen to this BBC Radio news bulletin from 2020.

 

The work to clear the Tufa Field is being undertaken by Ethos Environmental Practice, contracted to BANES. The Government Agency Homes England has provided a £700,000 grant towards the costs. Estimates put the total cost so far at about the same, a total expenditure of between £1.5m and £2m.

There is no equivalent site in the area, so there was an intention to create a site at Pennyquick, about 2 miles away. The artificial creation of a tufa flush site has never been attempted before, so there is no guarantee of success and the site chosen has it’s own problems, including the potential for contamination of Newton Brook from the former Pennyquick Colliery and Quarry workings on the site.

After the 1942 blitz, much of the demolished material was dumped here, with unknown content, so any disturbance will need to undertaken with great care to avoid downstream contamination.

There was no date for the availability of this site or how it would have been monitored to measure success or otherwise.

As of August 2023, this option would appear to have been abandoned, although is still part of the original planning permission for 37 homes, which still exists.