Fears that airfield homes site could be contaminated with radioactive material

CAMPAIGNERS against the redevelopment of Tollerton Airfield say 1,600 homes shouldn't be built on the site because radioactive material from old planes has contaminated the land.

- By LOUIS CORBETT

Concerns were raised after campaigners found evidence that the former RAF base had been used after the Second World War to dismantle hundreds of Lancaster Bombers and other aircraft that contained glow-in-the-dark dials made out of radium -226.

Vistry, a developer for 1,600 new homes proposed at the site, has earmarked the airfield after Rushcliffe Borough Council sold the land in June 2022.

An agreement was made that the airport and the amenities could remain there until planning permission was approved.

A Freedom of Information Request to Rushcliffe Borough Council in August 2024 disclosed several concerns about the potential contamination of the site from a geo-environmental report.

It recommended that mitigation works should be carried out if this ground was to be disturbed.

Campaigners for the airport have referred to other cases where former RAF airfields like Tollerton were used as “burn, bash, and bury” sites and then deemed potentially hazardous.

If the grounds were disturbed, an extensive clean-up process would have to be done. An example of this is Dalgety Bay, in Fife, Scotland, a stretch of coastline used for the same purposes as Tollerton Airfield.