Cat Smith Working for Lancaster and Fleetwood
Only 13 houses were consulted on the reopening and extension of the landfill site until 2033, excluding nearby caravan parks and businesses.
Today Lancashire County Council’s planning director has confirmed that just 130 people were consulted on the reopening and extension of the landfill site, 85 of which were on the nearby caravan sites, and did not include any residents on the Harbour Village. LCC say: “The current issues regarding odour impacts are acknowledged”. I imagine this will come as very little comfort to the great many people affected by this on a daily basis.
On reviewing the minutes of the LCC committee which approved the reopening of the site (which can be found below), it’s disappointing that not only did they ignore objections which related to odour, they in fact also extended the operating of the site to include Sundays!
These are the objections raised by the community, which seem to have been ignored as part of LCC’s decision to re-open the site:
Representations – The application has been advertised by site and press notice and neighbours have been notified by letter. Seven objections have been received from residents to the north of the site and from the owner of the Cala Gran Caravan Park raising the following issues:
• Odour and air pollution.
• Contamination of ground water.
• General pollution to the local area from whatever maybe tipped at this site.
• A landfill site so close to the river is a ticking time bomb as the waste could be exposed by erosion over a period of time.
• Vermin infestation.
• The devaluation of the value of residential properties.
• The submitted traffic, odour and noise assessments are out of date as they rely heavily on data that accompanied planning application 02/99/0704.
• Not to install temporary caps on non-operational areas, and not to cap and restore completed areas, as soon as is possible, may create risks associated with fires, pest infestation and odours. To prevent this, a condition should require the temporary capping of any non-operational areas, and that the site is promptly restored at the earliest.
• Landfilling operations should be restricted to 0700 to 1900 hours, Mondays to Fridays (except Public Holidays), and 0800 to 1300 hours on Saturdays (except Public Holidays).
I’m pleased to have secured action from the Environment Agency who investigated and found a permit breach by the landfill company, and served notice to cap the problem ‘cell’ area by 15th May.
Residents in Fleetwood, Knott End, Cleveleys, and Thornton have been suffering for too long from this awful odour, and it’s right that the Environment Agency has has answered our calls to put a date on when this should subside.
The mention of 15th May feels a long way off when you’re experiencing this day-in-day-out – though let’s hope there is noticeable improvement over the next three weeks as they do the work.
If the odour carries on after the 15th May, I will be tasking the Environment Agency to enforce their notice with immediate legal action against the company, stop the processing of all waste, and close the site whilst they bring in national waste experts and investigate what next steps they can take against the company – including criminal proceedings.
Following my and Lorraine Beavers’ joint letter, we have received no reply from the Government’s Environment Secretary, and we have pressed him once again to take action and meet with us.
I have also been in touch with Local GPs to discuss the best way for they and the public to report illnesses to the Health and Safety Executive here.
In the meantime, we must continue to speak up as one united voice to say that this needs to stop, so please do continue to report the smell to the Environment Agency on 0800 807 060 to keep the pressure up to finally get this sorted.
