"Rodbourne Pong" to be investigated by specialists

Labour council members from Rodbourne Cheney and Mannington & Western say they’ve been told by officers from Swindon Borough Council that the authority has agreed to pay the Arup’s Bristol office to look into the issue.

Both the council and the Environment Agency have previously been unable to determine the source of the vile odour which Rodbourne resident Luke Parsons said: “smells like someone has mixed cheese and vomit together and set it on fire”.

Labour group leader Jim Grant, met with officers alongside fellow Rodbourne Cheney ward councillor Peter watts and Jim Robbins from the neighbouring ward.

Coun Grant said: “Obviously, we are pleased that the council have agreed to fund a specialist company in attempt to identify the source of the smell. Once we have identified the source we can start to eradicate the smell, which is all local residents want.

We share the enormous frustration of local residents who continue to suffer from the horrendous effects of the smell. This should have been resolved by now but lack of action by the relevant authorities has meant it has not. Both have cited lack of staff hence the need to engage with the specialist company.”

Coun Grant said while the Environment Agency couldn’t single out the source of the smell – many people in the area believe it comes from the council’s waste recycling and processing site at Waterside Park and added: “I would call upon anyone who is responsible, or knows who is responsible, to come forward now, not least because it would save the taxpayers having to fund the specialist investigation.”

He added: “We are hopeful ARUP can get to the bottom of this and the smell can be irradiated so that local residents do not have continue to suffer from the effects of the smell.”

The borough council’s cabinet member for service delivery, waste and transport, Kevin Parry said: “We have been working closely with the Environment Agency to determine the cause of the smell which has been inconveniencing local residents in Rodbourne.

“In order to try to narrow down the origins of the smell we are enlisting the help of a specialist company who can take air quality samples to see if this can give us some further evidence.

“If local residents continue to keep a log of when they notice the odour it will help with our ongoing investigations.

“This can be done by contacting the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807 060.”

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