Agenda item

That the contents of the update report be noted.

The Leader introduced an update report on Walleys Quarry looking at the complaints, monitoring information, actions of the Environment Agency (EA) and the Borough Council.

The Chief Executive advised that odour complaints in August and September had been lower than in previous months but, in the first week of October, complaints had risen significantly.  There had been three ‘odour events’ in September where, over ten complaints had been received in a single day.

In terms of monitoring, officers had completed both five minute odour assessment and spot assessment. Both of which identified a range of odour intensities.

The percentage exceedance of the World Health Organisation’s annoyance level per week were shown in the report at  table 2.12, showing that the level of hydrogen sulphide was variable – with the week commencing 1 September showing 18.7% exceedance.

Complaints continued to correlate well to air quality data.  The graph at table 2.13 of the report showed good correlation throughout that period.

At its last meeting, Cabinet was updated on the actions arising from the Committee of Inquiry which was presented to Full Council on 25 September and the recommendations  were shown at paragraph 2.10 of the report.

The Chief Executive highlighted the EA’s CAR (Compliance Assessment Report) forms which were published by the EA and shown in the report at paragraph 2.17.  Reference was made to the form dated 31 March, 2024 where A 16.1 compliance score was given.  The EA had stated that they were concerned that non-compliances from 2023 had continued into this year.  Walleys Quarry Ltd (WQL) had been issued with a warning in respect of the Quarter 4 2023 Environmental Monitoring Report non-compliances but had failed to take appropriate remedial action.

On 10 September  WQL published an information update into their investigations following the fire at the site in August which was available on their website and shown at paragraphs 2.22 and 2.33 of the report.

The Leader stated that complaints were edging up again as the cooler weather approached with some of the monitoring equipment showing an increase.

No concrete action from the EA had still yet been seen. This Council agreed that the site should be appropriately closed, with capping off and restoration taking place.

There was a Walleys Quarry Liaison Meeting taking place later today which the Leader would be attending and it was highlighted that there had been some director-level changes at the company.

The Minister for Nature had responded to the Leader’s letter of July, refusing a public inquiry at this stage.  However, the Leader and Chief Executive had met with the Health Minister- via Teams, who was keen to try and support the community and to get the message to his colleagues in DEFRA that the EA needed to take urgent action.

The latest position on the legal action that the Council was taking had, as far as possible, gone public with more information being available towards the end of this month.

Councillor Fear stated that the notion that the EA was taking ‘robust measures’ was bizarre but the evidence proved that it was not the case.  The Council should continue to press hard for a public inquiry.

Councillor Sweeney asked the Chief Executive about reference to the smell being different on a couple of days. Councillor Sweeney had noticed this but it had been over more than two days and asked if there was any further information on this.

The Chief Executive stated that the point had been that officers had been looking at whether there  were concurrent events happening such as spreading on nearby fields for example, as there had been an intense smell in the town on 20 and 21 August.  However, for those living near to the site it was a personal experience and highly variable in terms of atmospheric conditions.  The odour was affecting people’s lives both physically and mentally.  The Council would continue working with the UK Health Security Agency and others to bring the matter to a conclusion.

The Leader stated that since the last meeting of Cabinet, the Committee of Inquiry report had been taken through Full Council and the Chief Executive was moving forward on implementing the recommendations which sat with the Council.  The pressure needed to be kept up on the desire for a public inquiry and the legal action progressed.

There had been an upsurge in complaints regarding lorry movements around the site, particularly at early hours in the morning.  The County Council and Police had been made aware and would take joint action on that.

Resolved:    That the contents of the update report be noted.

Watch the debate here