There is an information/conference room on site with posters on the walls detailing what the finished project will look like as well as pictures of animal and bird life seen on site in the past such as Grass Snakes, Great Crested Newts, Barn Owl, Water Voles, King Fishers, Lapwings and Little Winged Plovers.

Phil Reeve, the Avenue Project Co-coordinator, showed me around the site. Also present were Steve Fuller of waste management background, Stuart Britton, the area local councilor, Ron Coleman, a TRUST worker (and a Journalist from Ground Engineering magazine).

We were taken slowly around the site in a 4x4 vehicle at a slow pace that took 2.5 hours to completion. Our guide carefully and in great detail explained all the problems involved with cleaning up the site. He went through the processes that happened in the past and how he expected the clearing up process to work. For example, several routes were explored and it was decided to treat the waste materials on site rather than have large numbers of heavy lorries trudging in and out of the site and the problems that would entail. Treating on site would mean the buildings; tools and equipment needed would be built on site. There was no desire to use the site as a waste processing plant for Derbyshire.

The two main areas of concern are the large waste tip and the several lagoons.

Risk assessments for key components of harm were carried out and selective digging was used to keep cost down. No significant dioxins were found in the ground. There are several test drill holes on site as well as several air quality monitoring stations. Work has already started at the south end of the site where the chemical content of the area is lowest, on a low wetland development which will eventually have fishponds and animal grazing to keep grass down. Although waste is present in the river at the moment, it is being monitored continually and is not considered at a dangerous level.

The main concern for Ron Colman from TRUST was the numbers and types of chemicals on site that the former employees may have been exposed to. Ron asked for a list and Phil Reeve later provided an inventory of chemicals found in the main plant area of the former Avenue Coking Works. This is now kept in the TRUST office on Saltergate. On the actual cleaning of the contaminated soil, tenders are being sought now on a Europe wide basis. Six bids will come back and one will be chosen on the simplest and most cost effective process. Work is expected to start in around 18 months and finish in about 4 years time. The local Community Forums will be kept informed of progress. The nearby company Ruberoid will end their lease in 2009 and Avenue will acquire that land. More information will come out in CD format later.

The finished site will be a leisure park for the local community to enjoy with walking, bridleways, fishing, picnic areas and a large mound Conical Hill, (to be built on the site of one of the lagoons) with a viewing point over the whole area. The long term aim for the Avenue is a clean, safe and multifunctional site.