Environment Agency cuts hurting people affected by Jameson Road landfill
PLUS: Will car park plans for Blackpool hotel site actually be short term?
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
Today’s reporting focuses on the Jameson Road landfill as a deadline approaches to compel politicians to debate the topic in the House of Commons. If you haven’t supported that yet but you want to, you can sign it here.
The issue has gone in circles for some time now, where residents raise concerns, everyone responds, and the status quo resumes. The operators say things are improving - but residents don’t necessarily agree.
One thing that is clear, though, is that nobody feels properly equipped to protect residents.
We also report on plans for the demolished St Chad’s Hotel in Blackpool which, doubtless to groans, now looks like it will be a car park. At least for a short while.
Environment Agency needs better support to protect residents from ‘daily misery’
By Luke Beardsworth
The Environment Agency needs stronger powers to deal with landfill sites like Jameson Road that are bringing ‘daily misery’ to residents.
That is the verdict from local MP Lorraine Beavers and an environmental expert approached by The Blackpool Lead to discuss the issue in Fleetwood.
The Jameson Road landfill has been slapped with two suspension notices in as many years due to the high volume of complaints the Environment Agency receives.
And there has been frustration from residents who believe that local authorities and the Environment Agency are failing to properly protect them from the site.
Transwaste believes that while the site has caused odour problems, it does not pose a health risk. The Environment Agency said it does not rule out further action but must follow a set process and give the operators the opportunity to remedy the situation.
Speaking in the House of Commons in February, Blackpool North and Fleetwood Labour MP Lorraine Beavers said: “What can the Government do to ensure that the Environment Agency has much stronger powers to deal with landfill sites that bring daily misery to residents, such as those living in my constituency?”
Mary Creagh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “There is an ongoing investigation into the cause of odour issues that have impacted the community in Fleetwood, which escalated in January 2025.
“The Environment Agency has told me that it expects odour issues to reduce within the next seven days. Should that not occur, it will consider any and all appropriate regulatory interventions to reduce the impact on the community.”
But that question was asked in February this year and a suspension notice has been issued and lifted by the Environment Agency in that time without an improvement on the impact on residents.
Dr David Megson, Reader in Chemistry and Environmental Forensics at Manchester Metropolitan University, agrees that the Environment Agency needs backing with the powers to protect residents.
He said that the money stripped out of the department over 14 years of Conservative government means they are unable to do all of the work that they want to. Then, when the Environment Agency is unable to properly intervene, it leads to residents to gather their own evidence which is invariably seen as biased.
He told The Blackpool Lead: “I wouldn’t blame people like the EA or the UKHSA because they’ve got a poor budget to try and monitor something on.
“They’re often in a position of wanting to do more but not having the budget to do it because the previous government has stripped back so much funding from those bodies that they’re not well enough equipped to do the job that they want to do.
“They need more funding.
“They also probably need stronger powers and a bit of protection. These regulations should be based on the precautionary principle - which is that you don’t do something if you think there’s a chance it’s going to cause harm. You prove it is safe and then you do it.
“But a lot of the time it seems to be flipped the other way around where it’s up to residents, or activists, to prove that there is a problem before anything can be done about it. And when that happens it’s complicated because nobody seems unbiased in that assessment, whether that’s produced by the public or by the industry.”
The question over whether the landfill is directly causing physical health issues for residents is hotly debated. Residents point to nosebleeds, nausea and migraines as common symptoms that demonstrate that it is.
Dr Barbara Kneale, who has been campaigning with residents against the landfill, wants to see an independent survey commissioned that will provide objective evidence on the impacts it is having.
This is something that was seen in Staffordshire with the Walleys Quarry landfill that was causing similar symptoms and has now been permanently closed by the Environment Agency.
The Blackpool Lead approached Cllr Michael Vincent, leader of Wyre Council, for his view on whether that is something the authority could consider but did not receive a response in time for publication.
A petition has been set up by local campaigners that calls for foul-smelling landfills in residential areas to close. It’s on 9,600 of the required 10,000 signatures for a government response. You can sign it here.
Recommended reading this week
🍸 A Blackpool sports bar is being transformed into a Nineties-style nightclub in a £35,000 makeover - for one night only. Champs Sports Bar on Topping Street is to become Rewind and Rave on Sunday, May 25 and entry will be free. Details from the Gazette are here.
🐚 Free trishaw rides around a seaside town will help isolated people "get out and about" and "have a natter", a Lancashire couple behind the planned service have said. Adam and Vicci Blakey are working with charity Cycling Without Age England to raise funds to buy a custom-made trishaw, a tricycle adapted to carry two passengers, to take elderly and less mobile residents on rides around Blackpool and the Fylde Coast. Kindness on display in this BBC report.
🌹 Reform UK was forced to clarify its stance on flags over council buildings after its chairman appeared to suggest there would be no room for the county flag. It was, in fairness, a stance that always felt clumsy rather than deliberate. What it will likely mean, however, is no room for the Ukrainian flag. Full report here.
Car park plan revealed after Singapore group promised ‘high quality’ hotel
By Jamie Lopez
A developer which has pledged to bring a “high quality” hotel to replace the demolished St Chad’s Hotel now wants to open a car park on the site.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Blackpool Lead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.