Council joins calls to close down Telford landfill site over obnoxious smells
A council has joined calls for the Environment Agency to close down a Telford landfill site which residents blame for creating obnoxious smells.
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Telford & Wrekin Council has now unanimously supported a motion calling for the council’s leader and deputy leader to write to the Government to get the Environment Agency to “issue a closure notice" to the site at Redhill.
Councillor Rachael Tyrrell (Conservative, Priorslee) and the area’s independent councillor Paul Thomas had submitted a motion to Thursday’s (February 27) full council meeting after months of campaigning on the issue.
Now calls for the Granville Landfill site to close have for the first time been supported by the Labour-controlled council.
The leadership amended Councillor Tyrrell’s motion to add lines calling on the Government to press the regulator to close the site. The council does not have power to close the site itself, the meeting was told.
Councillor Tyrrell said it was an important issue and “residents have suffered terribly”. She said the only option was to close it and cap it off.
“Residents have had enough,” she said. “I am delighted that the administration has acknowledged the problem.”
Councillor Richard Overton, (Labour, St George’s) the council’s deputy leader, said the council “is on the side of residents”.
“Their voices have been heard, loud and clear,” he said.
“We remain laser-focused on holding the Environment Agency to account.”
The council was told that the site is due to close in 2030 and there is a meeting over the issue next week.
“We will be as robust as we can be but we have no powers to close it ourselves,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency has previously said: “We understand the impact odours have on the community and are sorry to hear that residents have been experiencing problems with odour in the local area.
“We are working with the operator, Potters (Midlands) Ltd, to resolve these issues and are closely monitoring progress.
“Please report any environmental incidents, including odour complaints, to our 24/7 hotline on 0800 807060.”
The EA has been asked if the council’s move changes its stance.
