A new British drama Toxic Town is now available to stream across the UK. The mini-series is set in the East Midlands town of Corby, where, between 1985 and 1997, people were exposed to toxic dust that was later linked to birth differences in a cluster of children. It follows a group of mothers fighting to demand justice from Corby’s leadership.
The dramatisation tells a powerful story of community connection and hope – local people coming together to create change. For me, this was a very emotional watch, and a very familiar one, as this social context was the backdrop of my childhood.
Urban regeneration
Like many, my family had travelled down from Scotland to Corby for the promise of economic opportunity; my great grandma and her young family came with hopes for a better future, and the promise of a council house after a year in the steelworks. They settled, and, years later, in the early 70s, my dad was born, and had a happy childhood growing up with his five brothers and sisters in the Lloyds ward.
By the 1980s, Britain had experienced a decline in heavy industry, and steel production was no longer competitive, leading to the works’ closure. Thousands were made unemployed, which prompted the local council to launch the regeneration of the area. My Grandad went on to work at the (now closed) Weetabix Factory, and my family continued living their lives. When my dad left school, he learnt a trade as a bricklayer, supporting Catalyst Corby – the reclamation of old sites – involving the demolition, excavation and development as part of a programme of urban regeneration for the area. A known consequence of this reclamation, yet unknown to the local community, was the accompanying ‘atmospheric soup of toxic materials’ that was being scattered around the town.
Public health
I arrived in 1997, and by this time New Labour had risen, and you could feel the hope and possibility in the air. Toxic Town gets it right – the feeling of community and togetherness in the local pubs – the hours I spent with an Irn Bru in the (now also closed) Rockingham Arms, (again – closed) Kings Arms or Our Lady’s Catholic Club, watching my dad converse with local councillors over a friendly game of pool. In these spaces, change was happening. Local people working together in new ways. The Power of Participation brought to life.
Throughout my childhood, stories like the ones told in Toxic Town were continuous background noise. The show shares stories of 18 families, but many more were affected; exposure to cadmium is a major public health concern, with the human body affected by acute and chronic exposure. The health of the community was declining, and trust between local people and Corby Borough Council was in fast decline along with it.
Environmental justice
This culminated in the landmark ruling of 2009 we see in Toxic Town; a High Court ruling that found Corby Borough Council liable for negligence in handling the demolition and waste disposal process, establishing a link between toxins in the air as a direct cause of birth differences in a cluster of families – the first in the world to do so. This was one of the most significant cases in the history of UK environmental justice. The judge accepted the evidence, more than 15 years of poorly regulated ‘muck shifting’ that polluted the environment of the town, ‘removing and depositing very substantial quantities of contaminated material’. The same year of this landmark ruling, Corby East Midlands International Pool – ‘the Olympic pool’ – was opened by Corby Borough Council. I remember visiting the new £19m facility on a school trip; an investment that many local residents did not trust that they could use without experiencing health problems.
Since then, Corby has tried its best to regenerate – to attract new industries, to open new shops and leisure facilities, to build new houses. But despite Corby’s location – around one hour from Central London on the train – this regeneration hasn’t had its desired effects. It is an area that still feels the effects of injustice from industries long gone – multiple indices of deprivation, youth unemployment, reports of bad health – all higher than those of surrounding regions. Peer research with young people in Corby showed that, across housing, education and employment, support systems are complex and hard to navigate – and don’t effectively involve local people to understand their needs and aspirations.
Resident voice
There are towns like Corby across the UK; ex-industrial hubs that have been forgotten in the movement away from heavy industry. In these towns live good people, who have been hurt by the actions of others, resulting in a planning system in which community trust is nearly non-existent. The experience of Corby’s residents is not an isolated case – a report from the Environment Agency concluded there were 1,287 landfills scattered across England and Wales that are categorised as containing hazardous waste. Many of these sites have now been regenerated into housing, shops, restaurants and schools – places and spaces at the heart of any community.
Corby Borough Council no longer exists, impacted by local government austerity cuts. North Northamptonshire Council Leader has shared a statement – ‘what truly stands out is the enduring strength of community, a thread connecting Corby’s past and present. The residents’ tenacious spirit is a testament to their shared identity and a source of immense pride’. For me, tenacious is the perfect word to capture Corby’s shared identity – a community that is deeply committed to justice and determined to see this realised.
A ‘just transition’
As Toxic Town illustrates, environmental injustice has a deep impact on local people. To overcome this, communities need to be engaged as equal partners in change – and this is particularly important as the UK makes a national shift to ‘net zero’, as local views, industries and vulnerabilities must be considered. We will only transition fairly if they are.
I’d go further and look at our transition to net-zero through a human rights lens, with the aim of eliminating existing inequalities, enabling social inclusion and promoting different forms of equity. The international climate conference, COP24, was informally named the ‘just transition conference’ in 2019, bringing recognition to the term – but ‘just transition’ is a concept that belongs to the people. In the decades following the Second World War, industrial workers led calls for what we would now term a ‘just transition’, based on an understanding that labour, environmental, health and social justice issues are closely entwined. Today, a ‘just transition’ recognises the disproportionate impacts these issues have on underrepresented or vulnerable communities, such as those in Corby.
A greener future
But that isn’t what has happened in Corby. Instead, local people see their concerns ignored, their suffering brushed under the carpet, their truth denied. All this considered, is it any wonder people have no faith in the planning system or in policy around environmental change?
Addressing this requires working together in new ways to build trust and understanding between place, communities, state and business, supporting a just transition to net zero that doesn’t happen to people, but enables them to play an active role in shaping a fairer, greener future. That might mean involving communities in local green transition plans that recognise and respond to the issues that will affect their livelihoods, homes and health. Because – as I saw as a child in Corby – local people see and experience issues ‘on the ground’, in their homes, and with their friends, families and colleagues. They are best placed to know what works.
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Climate change Families and youth Health & wellbeing Inequality Just transition Net zero Posted on: 11 March 2025 Authors: Leonie Taylor,