New government urged to help council take legal action against Newcastle landfill

The leader of Newcastle Borough Council's written to the new government about the foul smells around a local landfill.

Council leader Simon Tagg is urging the quick approval of an outstanding request for the council to bring legal action against the operators of Walleys Quarry.

That request is directed at Steve Reed OBE, the newly appointed Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The Borough Council believes the site operator has failed to properly control emissions from the landfill site in Silverdale and therefore has breached a court-granted Abatement Notice.

As DEFRA oversees the Environment Agency (EA), which is responsible for regulating Walleys Quarry, the Borough Council needs the Secretary of State’s permission before it can proceed any further.

Simon Tagg said: “The Borough Council’s powers are limited because the EA is the main regulator for the site, but we cannot wait and wait for the EA to do what is necessary.

“For years our residents and communities have suffered the consequences of what is happening at Walleys Quarry. The fact remains that the problem has not gone away; residents still have this problem not only their doorsteps, or in their gardens, but inside their homes and we want to help in any way we can.

“The formal process of gathering evidence, taking expert legal advice from King’s Counsel and building a case takes time but we need to keep moving and so I’ve written to Steve Reed requesting him to prioritise our request and to be pro-active in his oversight of the EA’s handling of this blight.

“I’ve also invited the new Secretary of State to visit Newcastle to discuss Walleys Quarry with Council officers and myself.”

In August 2021, the Borough Council served an Abatement Notice against Walleys Quarry Ltd, requiring it to control the odour nuisance caused by the landfill.

In January, Mr Reed visited Walleys Quarry with Adam Jogee, who was elected as Newcastle’s new Labour MP last week. At the time, Mr Reed said the landfill site ‘absolutely stinks’ and vowed that if Labour won the election he would ‘haul the Environment Agency into my office and the operator of this site and I will demand answers as to why they are allowing this to continue for so long’.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that Mr Reed would respond to the council’s letter ‘in due course’.

The abatement notice came into effect last year after Walleys Quarry Ltd dropped its appeal against the action. Following mediation, the company agreed to control odour problems by ‘the best practicable means’ and to publish information about what is happening there.

Levels of HS2 and complaints from residents increased sharply over the winter, prompting the council’s decision to take legal action in April.

The latest monitoring data shows that in the week ending July 7, HS2 levels breached the ‘annoyance’ threshold 4.2 per cent of the time at Galingale View and 0.6 per cent of the time at Silverdale Cemetery.

A spokesperson for Walleys Quarry said: “The landfill site holds an environmental permit and is stringently regulated by the Environment Agency to ensure the onsite activities do not cause harm to human health or the environment. We have consistently undertaken to continue our engagement with a range of stakeholders regarding the site.

“Landfill plays a vital role in offering residual waste disposal supporting wider recycling services. The team is focused on managing the site to minimise impacts to community around the site and we will continue to do so.”

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