Havering Campaigner To Speak About Launders Lane At Zane’s Law Summit In Westminster: ‘Make Toxic Landfills Safe’

Today, Wednesday 11 June at the Houses of Parliament, Havering campaigner Ruth Kettle-Frisby will join, politicians, trade unions and legal representatives who are coming together with a single purpose: to place the ticking time bomb of contaminated land and water centre-stage and address the urgent task of drawing up legislation to make UK environmental protections fit for purpose. 

Ruth, who is the driving force behind the decision to bring Havering Council to court over the deeming of the Launders Lane site ‘not contaminated land’, will join campaigners from more than 20 communities experiencing severe and sometimes fatal harms from toxic landfill and contaminated water who will speak at the Summit. 

Other speakers will include Des Collins, the solicitor who represented families affected by the toxic waste scandal in Corby, dramatised in the recent Netflix series Toxic Town.

The proposed ‘Zane’s Law’ that campaigners are calling for would improve transparency around historic landfill sites and clarify who is responsible for making these safe. It is named after seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, who died on 8 February 2014 when floodwater passed through landfill into the basement of his home in Chertsey. His father, Kye Gbangbola, was left paralysed by the same incident.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Services detected high levels of hydrogen cyanide in Zane’s home. And yet, to this day, the landfill has not been properly tested, despite the discovery of a 2010 report warning of an “unacceptable risk” of “migrating landfill gasses” from the site causing “significant harm, serious injury and capable of causing death”.

Baroness Natalie Bennett, who will chair the hybrid meeting, said:

“Current UK regulations on contaminated land are grossly inadequate and a threat to the safety of many, especially given climate breakdown, rising sea levels, increased rainfall, and flooding. Zane’s Law proposes measures to address this crisis. The need to act was acknowledged in the 1990 Environment Protection Act, but then the protective provisions were removed after lobbying of the Conservative government by mass house builders. I hope, but sadly don’t expect, that Sir Keir Starmer’s government would step up to one of its primary responsibilities, to protect life.”

The call for a Zane’s Law was launched by Zane’s parents, Kye and Nicole Gbangbola, at COP26 in 2021, together with Baroness Bennett, at a Peace and Justice event hosted by Jeremy Corbyn. 

It has the support of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the TUC, Unison, Unite, the National Education Union, teachers’ union NASUWT and communications union CWU. Several local authorities, including the London Assembly, have passed motions calling for Zane’s Law.

Steve Wright, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said: 

“Contamination from unregulated, historic landfill poses a serious threat to the environment, health and lives. With the climate emergency resulting in increasing floods, which threaten to spread this contamination, the government cannot ignore the rising risk.

“Everyone should have the right to live in a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Firefighters, who are on the frontline of flooding incidents, stand with the communities who have been tragically impacted and with the continued call for justice for Zane.

“The UK government must bring in Zane’s Law to save lives by properly regulating contaminated land and water.”

Many elected politicians and parliamentarians have expressed their support for Zane’s parents in their long campaign for the truth about what happened to their son, including Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, and Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP. 

Zane’s parents, Kye and Nicole Gbangbola, said: 

“Today we’ll hear the brave voices of people who are struggling to get protection from the horrific impacts of living in proximity to toxic landfill and poisoned water – and hear them at the heart of government. Britain should be leading the way in environmental law, instead our legislation is woefully inadequate. We need Zane’s Law now!”

Ruth and other locals including the Launders Lane steering group, have been fighting for years to get correct action in place to deal with the ongoing issues across Launders Lane and the potentially toxic and harmful impact it is having on residents living near the area.

Despite endless talk and meetings, the fires continue to burn every summer.

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