Asbestos site advert 'misleading'
Asbestos site advert 'misleading'
The firms bidding to re-develop a former asbestos factory for housing published a misleading advert downplaying asbestos risks, a watchdog has ruled. The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld three complaints from campaigners, headed by the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre and the Save Spodden Valley campaign. MMC Estates and Countryside Properties sent out 50,000 brochures saying rubble on the Spodden Valley site in Rochdale was free of asbestos. The ASA ruling said this breached the code of honesty and truthfulness. Campaigners fear any development at the former Turner and Newall site could disturb asbestos, which was dumped there, placing residents, construction, environmental assessment and others workers at risk. The communication workers' union CWU last year raised concerns about its members working on the site and gave its backing to the campaign (Risks 205). Three out of the five complaints about the published brochure were upheld by the ASA. It said the claim the 'the landowners, MMC Estates and the Rathbone Trust are committed to the comprehensive remediation (clean-up) of the entire site including the wooded area' was misleading. It also agreed that claims about levels of asbestos at the site were misleading. The case is believed to a first where campaigners have successfully used ASA to expose company spin on an occupational health-related issue.
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