Petition launched to close Walley's Quarry in Newcastle
More than 1,000 people have added their names to the petition.
Newcastle Under Lyme MP Aaron Bell has launched a petition calling for the closure of Walley's Quarry, following years of complaints from constituents about strong odour coming from the landfill site.
More than 1,000 people have signed their names in the first 12 hours of the petition going live.
Mr Bell told us enough is enough: "We've had another shocking weekend of odour. Odour has been up considerably over the last few months. It's awful really because it looked like it was getting better but then we discovered that the Environment Agency had been misreporting the numbers. They’ve now put that right and we're now seeing levels that we haven't seen since early 2021 when the stink was at its absolute worst.
"On top of that, the environment agency is now saying they don't believe that Walley Quarry LTD is working towards compliance. I think it's time to pull the plug on them and issue them with a closure notice which would require them to close the site. To that end, I've launched this petition to try and make the case to the environment agency that it is now time for a closure notice."
The town's MP says this is consistently the issue on which he receives the most correspondence from constituents: "People want to see the site closed. That's why I've got this petition for people to sign. I've got the minister for waste coming up hopefully next week and the week after that I'm meeting the head of the Environment Agency again and I want to present this petition to him and show the strength of feeling in Newcastle, the need for him to act and take the strongest possible measures against Walley Quarry.
"The petition has had over 1,000 signatures overnight and I want to get that into the many thousands. Given the number of people affected I should think we would be able to get to 5,000 or more."
In response, a spokesman for Walley's Quarry said: “Mr Bell continues to prefer grandstanding gestures involving egregious and wrong accusations to working constructively with Walleys Quarry, the regulators and our community as we strive to provide a clean, healthy and sustainable operation.
“He continually refuses either to meet us or to work together with us; an approach which can achieve little beyond his own self-promotion.
“He makes the facile call for closure without giving any thought or effort towards the practical realities. By contrast we remain committed to our end goal. In time Walleys Quarry Ltd. will cease to operate as a landfill and restoration will be completed. This cannot be achieved through any sort of immediate closure, as Mr Bell knows full well. In the meantime, all onsite emissions remain well within World Health Organisation guidelines and pose no risk to health.
“His petition stunt smacks of a desperate attempt to divert attention from what he knows are the real issues. It appears to be motivated more by a sense of self-preservation than any real concern for the best interests of his constituents.”