Pembrokeshire County Council has announced today that it is taking the next steps in its legal action against the owners of a landfill sight that has been making local residents’ lives a misery for months.
Locals have been reporting foul odours and polluting landfill gasses coming off Withyhedge Landfill Site since October.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has issued site operator Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with two regulation notices, detailing remedial work that must be completed. The April and May deadlines for these notices have passed and although NRW said that work appears to have been done at the site, residents are still complaining of foul odours and landfill gasses invading their homes.
Lat month the council asked RML to give legally binding undertaking to stop the odour coming from Withyhedge Landfill. If it refused, the council expected RML to provide disclosure of documents, as a potential defendant to a claim for nuisance.
RML refused both to give undertakings or to provide disclosure.
Because of this the council made an application for pre-action disclosure at Haverfordwest County Court on May 20.
The authority will be asking the court to compel RML to hand over documents, which it believes are important to its claim for nuisance. The date for a hearing is expected to be confirmed by the court shortly.
In addition to pursuing the legal avenue, the council says that its public protection team is continuing to undertake air quality monitoring and to work in collaboration with its partners part of a joint approach to doing all that is possible to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge.
Pembrokeshire County Council cabinet member for residents’ services, Cllr Rhys Sinnett has pledged to continue addressing the ongoing issue at Withyhedge as a top priority for the council.
“Our intention is to ask the court for an injunction requiring RML to stop the odour nuisance arising from the landfill,” he said.
“While we are pleased with the operator’s decision to completely seal off the cell (cell eight) causing the problem, and are genuinely hopeful this will resolve the problem, we remain concerned over future operations and cannot allow this situation to ever recur.
“I understand the frustration and upset that the residents living near the Withyhedge site have been experiencing – and the odour is simply unacceptable, and I am committed to working tirelessly to find a solution.
"Maintaining clean air is a priority for our community – and this authority along with our partners – are committed to proactive pollution monitoring, and working closely with NRW and the site operator to ensure they move to a position whereby foul odours from the site impacting upon our communities are eliminated.
“Our monitoring is ongoing and will align with colleagues from NRW to gather information on air quality levels both from a health and nuisance perspective – including providing early morning and evening visits.
“Furthermore, and in partnership with NRW, more advanced static monitoring equipment has been commissioned and will be delivered for deployment next month.
“In addition, we would like to work with as many residents as possible and encourage them to report any odour concerns they may have – this information is vital in helping us address the issue effectively."
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