Pollution Risk Assessment Aston Wood Golf Club

Pollution Risk Assessment 

Aston Wood Golf Club 

Document 2 Final 

April 2010 

INTRODUCTION 

Aston Wood Golf Club proposes to raise the bunds surrounding the driving range at Aston Wood Golf 

Course as part of the re-profiling of the driving range. The proposal is to raise the perimeter bund by 

between 0.5m to 3m for safety reasons and to re-profile the surface of the driving range through the 

importation of inert materials. 

AECOM Ltd (formerly Faber Maunsell Ltd) has been instructed by Aston Wood Golf Club to assist in 

the preparation of the application for planning permission for the proposal and in the subsequent 

application for an exemption from Waste Management Licensing for the importation of the materials. 

It is proposed that clean, uncontaminated materials are imported to the site under the U1 waste 

exemption permit issued under Chapter 4 of The Environmental Permitting (E &W) Regulations 2010. 

This document provides a Pollution Risk Assessment of the proposals. 

BACKGROUND 

The Aston Wood Golf Course is located approximately 3km south east of the Shenstone Village and 

immediately north of Sutton Coldfield, centred on National Grid Reference (NGR) SK 100 011, as 

shown on Figure 1. 

Access to the site is off the A4026 (Blake Street) to the south of site which runs eastwards from 

A5127 and follows a westerly direction joining the A454 towards Aldridge. The Lichfield – Birmingham 

railway line runs along the eastern boundary of the site. Ryknild Street which follows the route of a 

Roman Road bounds the site to the west. The northern boundary comprises drains, ditchcourses and 

tributaries of the Footherley Brook. Little Aston Sewage Treatment Works is located immediately west 

of the Roman Road and adjacent to the Footherley Brook. 

The site is predominantly a golf course, most of which is covered by a mixture of well maintained 

grass and trees planted for landscaping purposes with occasional rough vegetation. The existing 

driving range is located in the south eastern part of the site. The re-profiled range also will be restored 

to a permeable grass covering. 

The Club House and a Marquee are located adjacent to the western side of the driving range. In this 

area the existing ground levels fall from approximately 121.70mAOD to 120mAOD in a north easterly 

direction. The bay/tee green is located at the northern edge of the site. This area is approximately 

500mm higher than the surrounding ground. There are four target greens within the range which are 

elevated between 0.5m to 1m. Similar to the southern and western boundaries, the eastern side of the 

range is dominated by a bund which is up to 4m high at the north eastern edge. 

The southern edge of the existing driving range is located at the bottom of a benched cutting. The 

levels in this area fall from approximately 125.80mAOD at the top of the bank to approximately 

122mAOD at the bench and 120.40mAOD at the base. 

Figure 2 of the planning statement shows the site layout and existing topography of the driving range 

and Figure 4 shows the proposed ground profiles and cross sections. 

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F:\Projects\Environmental Management & Development - Aston Wood Golf Club\report\April 2010 Revision\WML exemption - GWRA - U1.doc

GEOLOGY 

The geology of the area is interpreted from the British Geological Survey (BGS) 1:10,000, scale map 

SK00SE (Lichfield) and the BGS 1:50,000 scale map, Sheet 154, Lichfield. The golf course is 

underlain by strata of Carboniferous and Permo-Triassic age. Sandstones and mudstones of the 

Bowhills Formation crop out in a faulted block, which forms a band running north west to south east 

across the golf course. To the east are sandstones of the Sherwood Sandstone Formation, 

represented by the Wildmoor Sandstone. To the west, the Kidderminster Formation, also part of the 

Sherwood Sandstone, crops out. The solid strata are covered by a variable thickness of superficial 

deposits of boulder clay, peat and river terrace sands and gravels. The superficial deposits obscure 

the junction between the Bowhills Formation and the Wildmoor Formation to the east. It is inferred 

that the majority of the application site is underlain by the Bowhills Formation. 

HYDROGEOLOGY 

The granular layers in the superficial deposits have a variable but generally moderate intergranular 

permeability which facilitates groundwater movement. The glacial boulder clay, which typically is clayrich, 

has a low intergranular permeability which restricts groundwater movement. 

It is likely that the sandstone units of the Bowhills Formation have a moderate intergranular 

permeability, which facilitates the movement of groundwater. Mudstone bands within the Bowhills 

Formation have a low permeability, which restricts vertical groundwater movement and supports a 

series of individual water-bearing units in the overlying sandstone bands. There are a number of small 

former marl pits in the area, which are associated with mudstone horizons in the Bowhills Formation. 

The sandstones and conglomerates of the Sherwood Sandstone typically have a high permeability 

which facilitates significant groundwater movement. 

The Bowhills Formation is designated as a secondary aquifer by the Environment Agency (EA). The 

Sherwood Sandstone is designated as a principal aquifer. The Sherwood Sandstone is a regionally 

important aquifer, which has been exploited for public and private water supplies. The glacial deposits 

are classified as secondary aquifers in the Environment Agency’s ‘Policy and Practice for the 

Protection of Groundwater’ (Groundwater Vulnerability Map Sheet 22, Scale 1:100,000). 

Groundwater in these units may be important for local groundwater supplies and for providing 

baseflow to rivers. 

The Environment Agency’s website indicates that part of the site lies within the total catchment area 

of the Groundwater Source Protection Zone (SPZ) for a groundwater abstraction well for public water 

supply located approximately 3km north east of the site. However, most of the driving range area is 

outside this total catchment area except for the eastern part which falls within the outer zone. The 

website indicates that there are no licensed groundwater abstractions within 2km of the site. There is 

no information on the groundwater level beneath the site. However, due to the presence of many 

ponds on the course and an extensive surface water drainage system, it is likely that in both the 

Bowhills Formation and the Sherwood Sandstone, water levels are shallow and that the direction of 

groundwater flow is controlled by the local surface water drainage system, the Footherly Brook, which 

flows to the north. It is considered that groundwater in both strata provides baseflow to the surface 

water system and that beneath the site area, groundwater flow is northerly or north easterly. Figure 3 

shows the Groundwater Source Protection Zone in the vicinity of the site. 

HYDROLOGY 

The Footherley Brook enters the golf course at the south eastern corner and flows in a generally north 

– north westerly direction approximately 110m east of the driving range. A second arm of the brook 

flows in a northerly direction to the west of the golf course. The two tributaries of the Footherley Brook 

join approximately 700m north west of the site from where the Footherley Brook flows in a north 

easterly direction towards Shenstone Village. 

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The quality of the Footherley Brook obtained from the EA website was classified in 2007 as chemical 

quality assessment grade C (fairly good) for the 3.7km stretch north of the golf course, from Little 

Aston STW (NGR 409350 301900) to Black Bourne Brook (NGR 410750 305050). 

Several ponds and drains are present across the golf course. The existing driving range is drained via 

a ditchcourse which flows from the north eastern corner to a small ditch which discharges into the 

eastern arm of the Footherley Brook on the eastern edge of the site. 

WASTE INPUTS 

It is proposed to re-profile the driving range at Aston Wood Golf course using uncontaminated inert 

waste materials. An application for an exemption from Waste Management Licensing under the U1 

waste exemption permit under Chapter 4 of The Environmental Permitting (E &W) Regulations 2010 

will be submitted to the Environment Agency following granting of planning permission. 

The proposed waste types to be used are presented in Table 1. It is estimated that up to 43,000m 3 of 

materials are required to achieve the proposed re-profiled site. 

It is envisaged that the restoration materials imported to the site will originate from a small number of 

sources. At this stage, it is not possible to confirm the sources. 

Table 1 Waste types proposed for use at the Aston Wood Golf Club 

Source of waste Kind of waste EWC Code 

Waste from physical and 

chemical processing of nonmetalliferous 

minerals 

Wastes from the manufacture 

of ceramic goods, bricks, tiles 

and construction pieces 

Waste gravel and crushed 

rocks other than those 

containing dangerous 

substances 

Waste sand and clays 

Waste ceramics, bricks, tiles 

and construction products 

(after thermal processing). 

01 04 08 

01 04 09 

10 12 08 

Concrete, bricks, tiles and 

ceramics 

Wastes from the mechanical 

treatment of waste (for 

example sorting, crushing, 

compacting, pelletising) not 

otherwise specified 

Concrete 

Bricks 

Tiles and ceramics 

Mixtures of concrete, bricks, 

tiles and ceramics 

Minerals (for example sand, 

stones) 

17 01 01 

17 01 02 

17 01 03 

17 01 07 

19 12 09 

Contaminated soils will not be considered for importation and use on the site to minimise any risk to 

human health and, in particular, to minimise any risk to the underlying groundwater and to surface 

water quality. All materials imported for restoration will contain potential contaminants in 

concentrations below the threshold levels detailed in Table 2. 

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All materials imported to the site for restoration will be inspected visually prior to disposal onto the 

site. Any materials which are considered unacceptable due to the presence of visual and/or odiferous 

substances will not be allowed to unload and will be turned away from the site. 

POLLUTION RISK ASSESSMENT 

To facilitate re-profiling of the driving range at Aston Wood Club, it is proposed that inert materials are 

imported to the site in order to raise the perimeter bund for safety reasons and to reduce water 

logging of the existing facility. Clean, inert soils and natural deposits, excavated from uncontaminated 

sites, will be used to achieve the proposed restoration profile. It is estimated that the required volume 

of imported materials is approximately 43,000m 3 . 

The imported materials will be deposited directly as they are brought onto site. If suitable topsoil or 

soil forming materials are delivered to the site, these may be stored in temporary stockpiles subject to 

the requirements on the site at the time of delivery. 

To assess the potential environmental impacts associated with the importation of the waste materials, 

a qualitative risk assessment has been undertaken using the source-pathway-receptor approach 

promoted by DEFRA and the Environment Agency. For there to be an identifiable risk, not only must 

there be contaminants present on the site (source) ie contaminated ground or groundwater but also 

there must be a receptor and a pathway, which allows the source to reach the receptor. All three 

elements must be present to form a pollutant linkage before there can be a potential risk to specific 

receptors. 

In accordance with standard practice, a conceptual model of the potential or actual pollutant linkages 

was developed for the site, to evaluate the likely impacts of the importation of any contaminated 

materials on human health and controlled waters. 

Based on a review of the ground and groundwater conditions at the site, the potential sources of 

contamination associated with the proposal, the receptors and contaminant migration pathways have 

been identified. 

The principal sources of contamination identified on the site are:- 

• Contaminants present within the materials imported to the site. 

• Soluble contaminants present within the materials imported to the site. 

The principal receptors are:- 

• Site operatives 

• Site end users 

• Groundwater in the underlying fluvio-glacial deposits and the Sherwood Sandstone; and, 

• Surface waters, in particular ponds on the golf course and the Footherley Brook. 

The main pathways for the identified contaminant sources to impact on the receptors are:- 

• Dermal contact and oral intake of contaminants through direct contact with contaminated 

materials and the inhalation of dust and vapours; 

• Leaching of soluble contaminants by infiltration of incident rainfall and movement to the 

underlying groundwater; 

• Surface water runoff of contaminants to the site drainage system and thence to the 

Footherley Brook; and, 

• Migration of contaminated groundwater and site drainage to the surface water system and 

thence to the Footherley Brook. 

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Impact on human health 

The imported materials will comprise inert materials excavated from uncontaminated development 

sites. Contaminated soils will not be considered for importation and use on the site. All materials 

imported for restoration will contain potential contaminants in concentrations below the threshold 

levels detailed in Table 2. 

All materials imported to the site for restoration will be inspected visually prior to disposal onto the 

site. Any materials which are considered unacceptable due to the presence of visual and/or odiferous 

substances will not be allowed to unload and will be turned away from the site. A record will be kept 

of all materials delivered to the site and of any loads refused permission to unload on the site. 

Table 2: Maximum threshold concentrations of contaminants in waste soils imported to the 

site 

Contaminant Threshold 

concentration 

(mg/kg) 

Contaminant Threshold 

concentration 

(mg/kg) 

pH range 6 to 9 (pH units) Selenium 260 

Arsenic 20 Zinc 300 

Cadmium 30 Boron 3 

Chromium 200 Free cyanide 25 

Copper 200 Complex cyanide 250 

Lead 450 PAH(16) 50 

Mercury 15 Phenols 80 

Nickel 75 Total petroleum 

hydrocarbons 

500 

The proposed threshold concentrations are a combination of the previously published Soil Guidance 

Values (SGVs) for a residential end use without plant uptake, MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries 

and Food) Soil Guidance Values, the Dutch Intervention Levels and in-house generic screening 

values for hydrocarbons. Although the SGVs have been withdrawn, it is considered that these criteria 

will provide stringent levels that will provide long term environmental protection. 

As it is proposed that all materials imported for the re-profiling will have to meet the screening criteria 

given in Table 2 above, the risk to human health is considered to be low. Additionally, any materials 

which are considered unacceptable due to the presence of visual and/or odiferous substances will not 

be allowed to unload and will be turned away from the site. 

The site operatives will not be exposed to any risk of coming into direct contact with contaminated 

material as no contaminated materials will be imported to the site. However, as a precautionary 

measure, appropriate PPE should be worn at all times during the works in order to minimise the 

potential risks of any unforeseen risks on the site workers. The potential risk of impact on site end 

users also is considered to be low as no contaminated material will imported to the site. 

In summary, it is concluded that the importation of uncontaminated, naturally-occurring inert materials 

would not pose a significant adverse risk to human health. 

Impact on controlled waters 

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The site is located in a sensitive location in respect of both groundwater and surface waters. The 

underlying Triassic Sherwood Sandstone is an important aquifer which is used in the area as a source 

of both public and private water supplies. However, there is no known licensed abstraction within 2km 

of the site but there may be small private abstractions which are currently unknown. Part of the site 

lies within the total catchment of a Groundwater Source Protection Zone (SPZ) for a groundwater 

abstraction for public water supply located approximately 3km north east of the site. 

Groundwater is likely to be present in the sands and gravels of the glacial deposits and may be 

important as baseflow to surface watercourses and is also likely to be in hydraulic continuity with the 

Sherwood Sandstone. However, where layers of boulder clay and peat are present such as in the 

western / south western part of the site, this is likely to restrict vertical flow into the sandstone aquifer 

and act as a layer of protection against contaminant migration into the aquifer. There is no 

information on the depth to groundwater beneath the site. However, due to the presence of several 

ponds and an extensive system of drainage ditches across the site, it is likely that the groundwater 

table is shallow beneath the site. 

A drainage scheme will be included in the proposed re-profiling, which mimics the existing drainage 

pattern, where runoff drains in a north easterly direction to the eastern of the Footherley Brook. 

The risk to controlled waters will be mitigated by controlling the nature of the materials accepted for 

disposal at the site. Only clean, uncontaminated inert materials will be accepted at the site. It is 

proposed also to sample the Footherley Brook at up and downstream locations and to analyse the 

samples for the Suite 1 determinands listed on Table 3. Samples will be taken prior to the importation 

of any waste to establish the baseline quality. The surface watercourse also will be sampled on a 

monthly basis and analysed for the Suite 2 determinands during the re-profiling period. The results 

will be reviewed to determine whether there is an impact on the quality of the surface water that could 

be attributed to on site activities. 

Table 3: Analytical suite for all samples. 

Suite 1 

pH, electrical conductivity, calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, hardness, ammoniacal nitrogen, chloride, 

potassium, nitrate, sulphate, sodium, magnesium, calcium, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biochemical 

Oxygen Demand, total manganese, total iron, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, 

nickel, selenium, zinc, cyanide, boron, phenols and total petroleum hydrocarbon. 

Suite 2 

pH, electrical conductivity, ammoniacal nitrogen, chloride, potassium, nitrate, sulphate, sodium, 

magnesium, calcium, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, total manganese, 

total iron, total petroleum hydrocarbon and total polyaromatic hydrocarbon 

Summary 

In summary, the potential risk to site operatives and site end users are considered to be low as no 

contaminated materials will imported to the site. Any potential risk to controlled waters also will be 

minimised by preventing the importation of materials which could pose a risk to water quality. A 

programme of surface water quality monitoring will be undertaken during the re-profiling works in 

order to ensure that there is no adverse impact on the quality of the Footherley Brook that could be 

attributed to the works. 

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F:\Projects\Environmental Management & Development - Aston Wood Golf Club\report\April 2010 Revision\WML exemption - GWRA - U1.doc 

Page 7 of 8

Prepared by: … …… Approved by:… …… 

Murtala Bashir 

Philip Smart 

Senior Hydrogeologist 

Technical Director 

Aston Wood Golf Club – WMX19: Pollution Risk Assessment 

Rev 

Comments 

Date 

No 

0 Draft for comments 21 July 2009 

1 Final 21 August 2009 

2 Revised following changes in the Environmental Permitting 19 April 2010 

14 Queen Victoria Road, Coventry, CV1 3PJ 

Telephone: 02476 253300 Fax: 02476 253301 Website: http://www.aecom.com 

Job No 60099647 Reference –FINAL draft Date Created July 2009 

This document has been prepared by AECOM Limited (“AECOM”) for the sole use of our client (the 

“Client”) and in accordance with generally accepted consultancy principles, the budget for fees and 

the terms of reference agreed between AECOM and the Client. Any information provided by third 

parties and referred to herein has not been checked or verified by AECOM, unless otherwise 

expressly stated in the document. 

No third party may rely upon this document without the prior and express written agreement of 

AECOM. 

Page 8 of 8 


N 

Groundwater Source Protection Zone II 

Site Location 

Total Catchment 

Reproduced from Environment Agency Webstie 1:20,000 scale map - 

Client: Aston Wood Golf Club 

Title: Plan showing the Groundwater Source Protection Zones 

Scale: 1:20,000 Date: June 2009 Figure Ref: 3 

Project No: 60099647 

Drawn By: mb

Pollution Risk Assessment Aston Wood Golf Club

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