Despite the suspension of waste deliveries, complaints regarding a landfill site’s pungent odours remain high, recent data has shown. There were over 1,000 complaints submitted to either Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council or the Environment Agency (EA) throughout May regarding Walleys Quarry. Neighbouring residents have frequently filed complaints over the past number of years. The EA ordered the site to cease taking new deliveries in March after which a lot of work was completed to ‘manage, minimise and eradicate’ any odour-related problems, according to a spokesperson for Walleys Quarry.
The levels of complaints were considered in a meeting of the borough council last week. While the complaints were still high and occurring in loose groups, mainly at weekends, odour events, or single days when more than 10 complaints were registered, dropped from April to May from five to 15. Simon Tagg, the council leader, stated that the quarry had ‘never been ran in a way that stops the odours from appearing.’
In April, the council asked for permission from the government to take legal action to against the landfill site’s operators. Next month’s general election is expected to delay the process, according to Councillor Andy Fear. The landfill site is stringently controlled by the Environment Agency to protect human health or the environment, according to a representative for Walleys Quarry, who added that the company ‘regularly monitored the waste deliveries and activities on the landfill to ensure that any odour risks were maintained, reduced and eliminated.’
This information was provided by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and more public service organisations
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