Local people have protested against a Labour council after officials refused to allow them to speak about the toxic asbestos danger they’ve been facing.

Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire has met with growing opposition from residents who are confronting a public health crisis as a result of a private housing development. But the Labour council has responded by gaslighting locals in the former industrial town Cleckheaton. And despite an “ongoing investigation into a breach at the site”, it has refused them the chance to present their concerns.

Residents and supporters turned up to Huddersfield Town Hall recently to put pressure on councillors as they met. They called for “transparency, accountability, and action to make their community safe again”.

As the Canary previously reported, apparent council negligence and stubborn resistance have left residents in Cleckheaton dealing with asbestos, arsenic, lead and cyanide contamination that has already resulted in negative health impacts. Local people simply want the council and developers to stop the work until proper safety measures are in place.

Residents have received the support of the People’s Alliance for Change and Equality (PACE), which has been supporting and connecting campaigners, trade unionists, and politicians across Kirklees in opposition to war, cuts, and racism.

Insulting response from the council, which keeps refusing to listen

Cleckheaton Against Harmful Development said in a press release on 15 October that:

Despite repeated complaints, there has been no official testing inside homes, no professional cleaning, and no health screening or medical support for affected families.

Public Health advice has consisted only of guidance to “wipe down surfaces with a damp cloth”, a response residents describe as wholly inadequate.

Local families, it stressed:

have been left unsafe in their own homes after Kirklees Council refused to hear a deputation detailing months of asbestos contamination and dust exposure.

This refusal was due to an “ongoing investigation into a breach at the site”, which residents say “tacitly acknowledges that asbestos exposure may have occurred”. A deputation is a system through which individuals or small groups “can attend a meeting to make a presentation on a particular issue of concern”.

The blockage of the deputation just before the full council meeting “left residents feeling silenced and abandoned”. And the statement added:

This is a human rights issue… Under Article 2 (the right to life) and Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life) of the Human Rights Act, every resident has the right to live safely in their own home. Right now, that right is being denied.

“Frightened to breathe our own air” due to asbestos

The deputation described how:

For almost six months, families living beside the Westgate site have been breathing dust every single day. · We’ve had to keep our windows shut during the hottest months of the year. · We’ve had to stop our children playing outside. · And we’ve watched our pets fall ill, one after another.

Our gardens, our washing lines, even the inside of our homes are covered in fine dust we now know contains asbestos. · We’ve been frightened to breathe our own air.

It added:

We have neighbours who were once healthy and full of life, now struggling to breathe. · People who have developed rashes, fatigue, headaches, breathing difficulties. These are not isolated cases, and they are new – They began after the work started.

And while people have been suffering, four pets on one street alone have died, and others are still under veterinary treatment.

This isn’t just about statistics — it’s about the health of an entire community.

It also stressed that:

Whatever the reasons — whether poor oversight, poor communication, or poor coordination — the outcome is the same:

Ordinary families have been put at risk.

And in a damning and heartbreaking conclusion, it asserted:

We just want to live safely in our homes, knowing that our council is protecting us — not simply trying to prove us wrong.

The people and pets that have suffered as a result of this public health crisis deserve better. They deserve safety. And pressure on the council will only continue to grow unless elected officials take action.

Featured image and additional images supplied

By Ed Sykes

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