A councillor has questioned why there is no record of approximately up to 100 tonnes of excavated material being transferred from the site of a recently completed local authority car park project.

Councillor Philip Thomson said there was no record of the vehicles used for the transfer from the location at Cat Nab, Saltburn, nor the exact tonnage involved.

The material excavated during alterations to the car park was disposed of at a private site locally, instead of being transferred to landfill in Grangetown, which Redcar and Cleveland Council said had resulted in a cost saving.The Northern Echo:

Cllr Thomson also asked at a meeting why no invoices were raised for the haulage, or waste certificates issued that accorded to the requirements of the receiving site.

The local authority said there was no commercial element to the transportation and disposal operation, which was why no records or invoices were produced.

In a response issued in writing to Cllr Thomson, Councillor Carl Quartermain, the cabinet member for highways and transport, said it had been estimated that between 80 and 100 tonnes of material had been excavated and disposed of for the ground works with between six and eight vehicle movements involved.

He said: “Redcar and Cleveland Council highways services have a waste transfer licence for anywhere within the borough and the receiving site had all relevant licences including a site waste management plan in place with an exemption to receive the material.  “These were all checked and approved by the [council’s] environment team prior to any waste being tipped on site.The Northern Echo:

“As well as the cost saving to the scheme, transporting and disposing of the material locally enabled a reduction in the carbon footprint for that element of the works.  “Ordinarily the material would need to be transported to Grangetown for disposal.”

Cllr Thomson, an independent representing the Saltburn ward, said: “It is a concern – when any material is moved there should be a record of movement.

“Because the authority has a waste transfer licence we are told that it absolves it of any responsibility for recording, which I do not accept.

“Part of a waste transfer licence should clearly be that you record everything you are moving, so to find that there are no records is disappointing and requires further clarification.

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“In addition there appears to have been an exemption from providing a waste transfer certificate, my understanding of the site it went to is that no material should be accepted unless it was accompanied by a certificate.”

Cllr Thomson said the material in question had “gone onto another pile of material” for use in landscaping.

He had also submitted another supplementary question on the matter for the council to respond to.