A historic coastal town is at breaking point after falling victim to a vile “rotten eggs smell” from a nearby landfill.
Fleetwood, famed for its fishing industry, now finds itself plagued by an overpowering stench emanating from the Jameson Road landfill.
The site, located fewer than 100 metres from homes, has accumulated 72 permit breaches since Transwaste Recycling and Aggregates reopened it in 2023 after taking over its lease from Wyre Borough Council.
The landfill had previously been shut down in 2017.
Local campaigner Allison Rowe, 65, described the situation to the Daily Mail as “absolutely diabolical”.
“Every day it makes me feel sick. It gives you headaches, sore eyes, the feeling of a hangover,” she said.
“People come here on day trips, take one step out of their car, smell the stench and turn around. It stinks all day and we’ve been living with this for 24 months.”
The Environment Agency maintains that the odour poses no health risk, though residents disagree.
Fleetwood finds itself plagued by an overpowering stench emanating from the Jameson Road landfill
|
GETTY
Last week, locals took to the streets in protest, demanding the facility be closed permanently.
Ms Rowe, who relocated from Australia during the pandemic, believes the smell triggered her asthma and COPD diagnoses two years ago.
“The children in this town go into school feeling sick, crying, having nosebleeds. I never had asthma or COPD until two years ago when this started and now I’ve been diagnosed,” she said.
Richard Falcon, 54, said he has been hopsitalised twice as a result of gases from the site.
COUNCIL CHAOS – READ THE LATEST:
The site has accumulated 72 permit breaches since being reopened in 2023
|
The odour has spread as far as Bispham and Thorton-Cleveleys, around five miles from the landfill.
Complaints hit a record high exceeding 4,000 last month, according to the Environment Agency.
Lorrain Beavers, the MP for North Blackpool and Fleetwood, expressed concern that residents face a third consecutive summer blighted by the smell.
“We’re a holiday town. People move to our area because they want to breathe clean air. If I went on holiday and had to put up with that smell, I wouldn’t be coming back,” she said.
‘If I went on holiday and had to put up with that smell, I wouldn’t be coming back,’ Lorraine Beavers MP fumed
|
HOUSE OF COMMONS
The Environment Agency has issued an enforcement notice requiring the operators to cover the landfill.
Transwaste’s parent company, Mercury Group, which holds a lease until late 2027, insisted that independent air quality monitoring shows levels remain within World Health Organisation safety limits.
A Wyre Borough Council spokesman said: “We fully understand how distressing this situation is for residents and we take their concerns very seriously.
“We have been working closely with the community to listen to their experiences and gather evidence to support a potential case of statutory nuisance.
“We understand that residents would wish to keep windows open particularly during warmer weather.
“To help build a robust body of evidence that meets the legal standard required to present in court, we continue to encourage residents to record incidents of unwanted odour experienced inside their property by completing diary sheets for at least seven consecutive days and by accepting officer verification visits, both of which remain crucial parts of the process under the legislative powers we hold.”
