North Tyneside's Green Party is calling for a formal independent investigation into the local authority's handling of the nurdle spill, which left plastic pellets strewn across the coastline.
A statement signed off by both of North Tyneside's Green councillors, Martin Osborne and Helen Bell, has called for an external probe into the council's response to events leading on from a collision at the Port of Tyne last month. Since 19 July, after the vessel Wind Orca collided with a manned 750-tonne crane at the port's quayside, plastic balls known as nurdles have been washing up across the region's coastline.
Clean-up and environmental impact
Clean-up efforts continue throughout the region, but the charitable organisation Tyne Rivers Trust has previously stated it may take years for the full environmental impact of the spill to be understood. The Greens believed the council "could have done more" and that questions remain over its handling of the spill.
The Green Party statement reads: "As elected members of North Tyneside Council, we have a responsibility to scrutinise the council's actions. We are calling on the Mayor and Cabinet to hold a formal investigation into North Tyneside Council's response as soon as the main emergency response is complete.
"This is not intended as a party-political statement. We have a duty to be open and transparent with residents and to learn lessons from this disaster that could help other councils respond better if something similar happens again."
Council and Labour responses
The Greens stipulate that an investigation should include providing a day-by-day analysis of the response, ensuring community responders' voices are heard, and ensuring cross-party scrutiny by all elected councillors.
A North Tyneside Council spokesperson said: "Our immediate priority is to continue the clean-up of our coastal areas, which represents a significant challenge for everyone involved. As part of our normal emergency response procedures, a formal multi-agency debrief will be held alongside an internal debrief to identify good practice, lessons learned and any areas for improvement.
"That process will take place once the immediate response has concluded. For now, our focus remains firmly on dealing with the situation at hand. Once again, we are incredibly grateful for the considerable time and effort shown by our community in supporting the clean-up efforts".
A ruling Labour group spokesperson said: "People are rightly angry about what has happened to our coastline, but that anger needs to be directed at the polluters and the agencies responsible for protecting our environment, not just the council dealing with the consequences.
"North Tyneside Council has been involved from day one. Staff have been redeployed, additional short-term workers are being brought in, and the specialist contractors are increasing their workforce.
"We also want to thank the hundreds of volunteers who have given their time to help clean up and protect our coastline. North Tyneside council taxpayers should not be left paying to clean up somebody else's pollution. There is no magic money.
"Every pound spent dealing with this is money that cannot be spent on local services, and every council worker redeployed to the beaches is a worker who cannot be doing their normal job elsewhere in the borough. Those responsible for the pollution need to provide the resources and ultimately foot the bill.
"The Greens are entitled to ask questions, but their focus should be on holding the polluters and responsible agencies to account, not trying to make the council the villain for dealing with the consequences. There will rightly be scrutiny and an investigation of how every agency, including the council, handled this incident.
"But right now the priority must be getting the nurdles off our beaches, protecting our environment and holding those responsible to account."
