The same excuses in the wait for the end of Jameson Road landfill
PLUS: Why would people engage politically if politicians can't act?
Hello and welcome to The Blackpool Lead.
We report today on an issue which has its epicentre in Fleetwood but has affected the vast majority of Wyre and even reached as far as the north of Blackpool.
The Jameson Road landfill is a site where there is a unanimous sense, from politicians of all colours through to residents and business owners, that it needs to go.
But it’s not going anywhere for the time being and there is a pattern emerging of the operators seriously falling short, being given a chance to remedy the issue, odours reducing and then repeat.
This is an issue where it is close to impossible to capture every piece of information - and every view from those living locally - in one article. It’s an issue we will continue to report on in the coming weeks and months. Remember we are on blackpool@thelead.uk if you want to talk.
Jameson Road landfill: The offence to human senses that nobody wants
By Luke Beardsworth
“Again the same excuses while we wait for the Environment Agency to do something. Also..the lot of you… you don’t live in it. My eight-year-old child is off school and has missed nearly five weeks since January. She had to go for a blood test today and there are so many people like us.
“And you, not Lorraine but the rest of you, you all sit there and none of you care at all. Profit before people.”
Those were the words of one mother at a meeting at Fleetwood Town Football Club on Thursday (3 April) that heard from politicians, business owners and, most importantly, residents who are frustrated and appalled that their voices are being ignored in the battle to shut the Jameson Road landfill.
It has been a long-running issue where the landfill has been sending odours across the entire area, affecting people in Fleetwood but also in Thornton, Cleveleys, Pressall, Knott End and even as far as Blackpool.
A suspension notice, the second issued to the site since it reopened in 2023, is currently in place that stops operators Transwaste from accepting landfill waste until work to improve the site is complete. The Environment Agency, who put the notice in place, received 3,221 complaints about the smells from the site in March alone.
That notice reads that the level of pollution, from uncapped areas of the landfill, amounts to an ‘offence to human senses’ and is having a negative affect on businesses and residents.
But that alone is not enough to force the closure of the site despite a unanimous verdict from politicians and residents alike with the Environment Agency stating there are legal processes that they have to follow.
Fleetwood had no meaningful warning in September 2023 when the Jameson Road landfill site reopened. The site had been operated by Suez with little issue up until 2017 before they closed it citing financial viability. Land owner Wyre Council believes it had no power to interfere in the lease being varied and transferred to current operator Transwaste when that happened in 2021.
Joanna Barton-Evans lives in Harbour Village in Fleetwood and had little knowledge of the landfill when she moved to the area.
She told The Blackpool Lead: “The first I knew about it was December 2023 when we were driving out of the estate and all of a sudden we saw a digger on the horizon. I didn’t even know where the landfill was. The horror unfolded over the next 16 months.
“This isn’t a landfill, it’s a hill. I see it every time I drive out and I smell it pretty much every day. Sometimes you get it in pockets through the town.
“It’s harrowing the symptoms that people are displaying. It’s transient but the impact on people’s minds isn’t. Sometimes you can have it for hours, other times it is passing.”
Those symptoms include headaches, respiratory issues, nausea, sore eyes, sinus problems and even nosebleeds. But the verdict from authorities is that the impact from gases coming from the site are not dangerous, though they will be detectable by nose.
Dr Barbara Kneale, who has been campaigning around the issue and organised the meeting at Fleetwood Football Club, told The Blackpool Lead: “Since it has been opened, I would say about 80% of the time there has been a horrendous smell all over Fleetwood. Last month in March, we had 3,221 complaints to the Environment Agency.
“It’s making people ill, complaining of headaches, sore eyes, breathing problems and even nosebleeds. It’s not a joke.
“The Environment Agency has now put two enforcement notices against Transwaste. It was shut down for three months last year, where they were supposed to improve their activities. Unfortunately, a couple of months after they started up again, we’re back at square one.
“Even as they do work, the number of complaints are not reducing. We are seeing what I believe is inaction, and a lack of belief in the people about how they’re suffering.”
The meeting at Fleetwood Football Club saw comfortably over 100 people attend to have the chance to ask questions of representatives from the Environment Agency and Wyre Council. Lorraine Beavers, MP for Blackpool North and Fleetwood, also attended and has been praised for her role in drawing attention to the issue.
Both Lancashire County Council, who granted an extension for landfill activities for the site in 2021, and Transwaste, declined to attend the meeting.
An email from Transwaste seen by The Blackpool Lead said: “After very careful consideration, we have decided that participating in a public meeting-style forum would not be the most effective way to facilitate constructive dialogue about our work.
“In our experience, while public meetings can sometimes provide a platform for discussion, they can also, unfortunately, create an environment where emotions run high, making it difficult to have a friendly, professional and balanced conversation.
“Our priority is to engage meaningfully - in a way that ensures all voices can be heard in a respectful and productive manner.”
Lancashire County Council said in an email seen by The Blackpool Lead that the odours are the responsibility of the Environment Agency to take action against.
There was frustration in the room with residents unable to see an end in sight for the problems, while the Environment Agency’s view is that Transwaste legally has the right to resolve any issues before further action is taken.
This has created a loop where issues are resolved temporarily before ultimately returning.
John Neville, Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “You guys shouldn’t have to suffer from odour. I share that sentiment. But I am not going to say that our aim is to shut the site down.
“As a regulator we have to be independent, and follow processes and procedures. There is an environmental permit and it’s our job to regulate that and hold Transwaste to account.
“I don’t want a pattern repeating of landfilling, odour and us serving notices and having to get things back on track. We will follow up, take action and ultimately we want the odours to stop too.
“We can’t always be fully transparent because there are legal processes that we have to follow.”
With Wyre Council being the land owner, and a six-figure gap in the authority’s finances which would previously have been filled by the lease Suez held, one member of the audience asked how much revenue was being generated. There is arguably a conflict of interest with Wyre Council responsible as landlord for the site while also being able to implement a statutory nuisance notice.
Rebecca Huddlestone, chief executive of Wyre Council, said: “The law prevents the operators from being subject to more than one enforcement at a time. That means the separate powers that we’ve got, and the Environment Agency have got, cannot be applied at the same time.
“The income [Wyre Council makes from the site] relates to the tonnage and for the last four quarters that has been £50,000 per quarter.
“The perceived conflict of interest is difficult but the income from this is not bearing any influence on our decision making.”
Whatever the view on a conflict of interest, what’s clear is that both Lancashire County Council and Wyre Council are relying on Environment Agency action to resolve the issue, with both Ms Huddlestone and Roger Berry, deputy leader of Wyre Council, believing they can make change happen quicker.
But residents do not want to see the issue prolong and soil another summer that will affect both residents and businesses, some of whom are considering legal action against both Transwaste as operator and Wyre Council as landlord.
David Shaw is the owner of Strawberry Fields Pub and Bistro and spoke at the meeting to say: “I agree with what is being said about the Environment Agency and what they can do - but you can take private prosecution, and this is what we’re going to do.
“This legal action will be taken against Wyre Council as the landowner and Transwaste as the tenant.”
Instead, residents want to see the site closed immediately and they are backed by their local MP Lorraine Beavers.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, she told The Blackpool Lead: “It’s not being run properly and it hasn’t been since the very beginning. Out of the 16-17 months it has been there, we’ve had a good 13 months of this terrible smell. It’s not being controlled, they don’t know how to control it.
“Everyone has a right to breathe clean air. We’re a holiday resort, people retire and move here. My daughter stayed at my house a fortnight ago and could not believe how bad it was.
“It needs to be closed down permanently. That’s my mission. I’ve spoken to these people and they can’t control it. They need to go. Wyre Council are the guardians of this town. They should be enforcing the closure.”
Transwaste believes the work that they have done in the last week, enforced by the Environment Agency, will resolve the issue.
After the meeting, a spokesperson for Transwaste told The Blackpool Lead: "As promised, the drilling of 11 deep wells has been completed. These have now been connected to the gas capture infrastructure and all 11 wells are now operating 24 hours a day.
“There has already been a reduction in odour level and the levels should drop further as the wells are balanced to maximise gas capture.”
There are petitions running on Change.org and Parliament.uk.
The Action Against Jameson Road Landfill Facebook group has almost 4,000 members.
The latest information from the Environment Agency is published here.
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What does the Jameson Road landfill tell us about engaging politically?
Analysis by Luke Beardsworth
Wyre Council are the landlords. The MP Lorraine Beavers wants it closed. Presumably, if Lancashire County Council had turned up, they’d have echoed what everyone else had to say.
At the meeting it was made clear that people in Fleetwood didn’t feel they had been consulted about the reopening of the landfill. Much earlier in the process, seven people wrote to Lancashire County Council to object. How many would it have been if people knew what was coming? Clearly, there was a lack of effort to engage people.
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