Walleys Quarry: Environment minister visits controversial landfill site

The environment secretary has visited a landfill site in Staffordshire that has been at the centre of complaints by residents over strong odours.

Walley's Quarry in Newcastle-under-Lyme emitted hydrogen sulphide, a smelly and noxious gas which at times had been found to exceed guidelines.

Therese Coffey met campaigners and residents when she visited on Friday.

The site's owner and the council have now reached an agreement over the issuing of a nuisance notice.

Ms Coffey was invited by the Conservative MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Aaron Bell, to meet Stop The Stink campaigners and local residents, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"It was very useful to hear from local residents about some of the actions that are under way - from the local council as well, in terms of the abatement notice - and this is all helpful information for me as we move to the next steps," she said.

Mr Bell said it provided an opportunity for residents to air their concerns directly with the government minister.

"Because there are live investigations, she couldn't commit to anything in particular but she is satisfied those investigations are progressing," he said.

"My priority as an MP is to keep the odour down and to get accountability. The only way we're going to get that is through due legal process."

He said he was aware of a rise in smells coming from the site recently.

"I'm looking forward to the explanation when we get the figures through from the monitoring stations," he added.

The Environment Agency has been monitoring the site and said it received 1,115 complaints between 2 and 8 August 2021 about odour from the landfill.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council served a statutory nuisance abatement notice on Walleys Quarry Limited, in Silverdale, Staffordshire, later that month.

The owner later dropped an appeal against the order and both sides said in October last year they had reached an out-of-court agreement.

The notice remains in place and the firm has agreed to pay £400,000 towards the council's costs and £60,000 towards ongoing monitoring of the site.

A spokesperson for Walleys Quarry thanked Ms Coffey for her visit on Friday and said they were working tirelessly to alleviate concerns.

"We have repeatedly sought to engage with all relevant political stakeholders. We greatly appreciate the secretary of state partaking in this constructive dialogue," they said.

"We continue to work constantly to improve our site.

"We have already made huge progress with the Environment Agency's own reporting showing long-term, significant and sustained reductions in emissions on-site."

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