One week inside the fight against the Jameson Road landfill
PLUS: A new operator to take charge of Blackpool Air Show
Hello and welcome to the weekend edition of The Blackpool Lead.
I had planned, today, to focus on the conversations I have had with the residents of Fleetwood, and further afield, regarding the impacts of odours coming from the Jameson Road landfill.
But the way that the more technical side of the story has developed over the last seven days means that those stories will be told at a later date.
Today I report on the lifting of the suspension notice, whether authorities are taking residents seriously, why Wyre Council has shifted its strategy over the last week and how all of this led to a heated row at the full council meeting in Poulton this week.
We also report on a new operator at Blackpool Air Show, which remains a cornerstone of the events calendar in the town.
Suspension notice lifted, diaries and a full council row: One week inside the fight against the Jameson Road landfill
By Luke Beardsworth
Wyre Council has confirmed it has altered its approach on how best to tackle the Jameson Road landfill in the wake of a contentious full council meeting - though campaigners are asking why the shift has taken so long.
The Jameson Road landfill has been operating in Fleetwood by Transwaste since September 2023. Transwaste has just had its second suspension notice due to the odours lifted by the Environment Agency after putting the required improvements in place.
But the decision was not a popular one with residents, who assert that the smell hasn’t gone away, and they staged a demonstration at Thursday (10 April) evening’s heated full Wyre Council meeting. There were 3,221 complaints about the site to the Environment Agency in March 2025 alone.
It became clear during this meeting that Wyre Council’s strategy on how to deal with the Jameson Road landfill had changed since the previous week’s public meeting at Fleetwood Town Football Club.
A week ago the message from Wyre Council was that the most productive way of dealing with the issue was through complaints to the Environment Agency. But by Thursday, Cllr Michael Vincent, leader of Wyre Council, said that it was imperative that residents fill out diaries they are sent which can be used as evidence to issue an abatement notice.
In response to a question from campaigner Dr Barbara Kneale about what the council is doing to explore whether Transwaste is causing a statutory nuisance, he said: “When we have received complaints from households, we have routinely responded by email or letter to inform the complainants that they need to provide us with evidence that we need and ask their household to complete a diary.
“The diaries need to be completed daily, or as close to daily as possible. They need to record the smell, but also how it has impacted the complainant.
“I fully accept that people will think that the complaints that they have made should be enough. Maybe they should be, and they are enough for the EA to take action, but they have not yet used their powers to launch a general investigation into Transwaste.
“We still want people to complain as they have been doing. But we also need people across the affected area to complete diaries.”
He also repeated denials that Wyre Council’s approach was influenced by either the income the council makes as landlord of the site or any financial risk that may be incurred as a result of taking action.
He said: “This is not about the money for this council, this idea that it’s about the money is just not true. We are a debt-free council with millions in reserve. The simple fact is if we could end the lease with them tomorrow, we would do so. We want this to be over for everybody.”
The conversation did turn heated, with those representing Wyre Council accused of not caring and Cllr Vincent issued an apology to Dr Kneale after shouting at her.
He told The Blackpool Lead on Friday (April 11) morning: “It did get heated. I think it got heated because both sides genuinely care about this. They feel we aren’t helping. We are and will do everything we can but we can’t do what they want us to do. We don’t have the legal power to shut it down.
“I’m just off a call with the EA and the MP [Lorraine Beavers] and we are all working together to try and find a solution but it can’t happen overnight.”
Jess Brown, 34, who created the Action Against Jameson Road landfill group, said that she is going to work to make sure diaries get to as many residents as possible.
She added: “I think the way he [Cllr Vincent] spoke, and how arrogant he was, was disgusting.
“The way the other councillors spoke was disgusting too. We have a right to be angry and this is the only time they have to face us.”
The Blackpool Lead asked why the strategy had changed from focusing on the Environment Agency to instead compiling diaries.
Cllr Vincent said: “We received counsel’s advice on Monday. It included advice that it would be sensible to serve an abatement notice and to do that we require diary sheets.
“The public meeting took place before the EA had lifted the suspension and at a time when we hoped that they could be persuaded to keep the site closed.
“An abatement notice will likely be appealed and the council will have to fight Transwaste through the courts but the public, understandably, want us to do something and right now the only thing available to us is to serve a notice. To do that we need the diary sheets.
“In the similar case at Walleys Quarry in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, it took 3.5 years between notice being served and the notice having some impact but it only did when the company it was issued against went into liquidation and stopped fighting.
“It is in no way going to give us what we all want any time soon but the public want the council to take action. This is the best option.”
Dr Kneale told The Blackpool Lead: “People have been complaining that they don’t even receive these diaries. The reality is that Wyre Council have been hiding behind the EA.
“They’ve signed into a disastrous agreement and done their very best not to take responsibility for the situation.
“I think they see Fleetwood as a dumping ground. People are at the end of their tether, suffering, and it’s disgraceful.”
A spokesperson for Wyre Council told The Blackpool Lead that responsibility for enforcement lies with the Environment Agency on a day-to-day level and that working with them remains the quickest way to see results.
However, Wyre Council is building evidence so it has a ‘robust case’ under statutory nuisance powers.
They added: “A successful abatement notice would require the operator to take action within a reasonable time period. However, it is unlikely overall to result in the suspension of activity at the site.”
Diary sheets
Diary sheets for residents can be accessed here. Wyre Council has also put together guidance on how to fill these sheets in.
Transwaste
It is, primarily, the activities of Transwaste that are causing such a rift between the residents of Fleetwood and elected members of Wyre Council.
The Blackpool Lead asked a number of questions, including those directly from residents, of Transwaste this week.
We asked that they confirm where the waste comes from, the level of awareness Transwaste has of what’s actually coming off the landfill, whether Transwaste believes what it is being told by residents and whether they have been operating outside of their allotted hours.
Transwaste said that the waste comes from waste transfer stations in Yorkshire and Lancashire, which they said is not unusual in the industry.
They pointed to the independent air quality monitoring - which only provides figures for 2024 - as their awareness of what comes from the site.
They did the same when asked if they believe residents about the impact it is having - which means that it would be fair to conclude they do not believe they are having a health impact.
They denied that they have been operating overnight, which they would not be permitted to do, and suggested this may be the nearby 24-hour United Utilities sewage treatment plant causing confusion.
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency reiterated that they would take further action if odours continue at Jameson Road.
John Neville, area environment manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Transwaste has met the conditions listed in the suspension notice served on 26 March 2025 and therefore it has been lifted. We expect the situation to improve as the gas extraction is increased over the coming days.
“We want to reassure the community that we will maintain our increased regulatory response to this site. This includes daily odour checks and regular site inspections.
“If activity at the site causes odours which continue to affect local residents we will not hesitate to take further enforcement action.”
They added that they did not expect the work completed under the suspension notice to immediately resolve the odours. Unlike Transwaste, they did confirm they believe residents in Fleetwood about the impact the odours are having.
They also told The Blackpool Lead that more contemporary air quality data will be made available as soon as possible.
Lancashire County Council
A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: "Council officers have been frequently engaging with residents to discuss their concerns about the Jameson Road Landfill site through the well-established local community liaison group.
"The site is privately run and managed and is not used to dispose of any waste collected in Lancashire. Concerns relating to odours are regulated by the Environment Agency under the permit they issue to the operator. We are working with the Environment Agency and will offer any ongoing support or intervention where required in our role as Planning Authority.
"We will also continue to engage with residents through the community liaison group."
They added that Transwaste is required to submit a monitoring report by March 31 each year and that they have received it.
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New company to take charge of Blackpool Air Show
By Shelagh Parkinson
A company which has managed air shows around the world has been chosen to take charge of Blackpool Air Show now in its 115th year.
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