Trucks taking rubble and spoil from unknown demolition sites to be dumped, unchecked and unrecorded, as landfill to remodel the fourth and fifth holes at Hillsborough Golf Club.

According to an independent report - commissioned by club members at their AGM in 2006 - an estimated 28,000 tonnes were tipped on the site at the behest and organisation of former Yorkshire golf champion and past President of the club Jack Timms.

But City Council planning permission said only topsoil should be used.

Jack Timms was the man put in charge of the project by the committee and the only man - according to the 29-page report - who really knew exactly what was going on.

The report, which took almost 18 months to compile, lists a catalogue of shortcomings, failures and procedural deficiencies of the project including:

• No formal approval given for the project




• No proper detailed drawings prepared




• No budgets, costings or financial scheduling




• No tender process to choose a contractor


• No tests made on the quality of material dumped on the course




• No records kept of loads or content




• No formal progress meetings held

The idea of the improvements was that they were to be 'self-financing' but when the council turned down previous planning applications which would involve the bringing in of landfill, Mr Timms submitted an application that would use topsoil only.

But according to the report:

"Changes were made to make the application acceptable - changes that were later not complied with and could never be complied with.

"The contractor could not and would not be using purely topsoil, as specifically requested by the council and the project management must have known that. Yet the project still went ahead."

A spokesman for the City Council Planning Department said: "An investigation took place and the Inspector found that, although there had been technical breaches of the conditions, it was considered that no demonstrable harm was done to the environment and there was no scope for enforcement action."

But the Golf Club report goes on to conclude that:

• The contract with the haulier did not comply with planning approval




• Infill material quantities or quality were never monitored




• The terms of the planning approval were largely ignored




• The council failed to enforce its own consent limitations

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Council failed to enforce own regulations