Last night, I had the pleasure of introducing the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, to Stop the Stink hero Dr Mick Salt as my Community Champion at an event in Number 10 Downing Street.
The Prime Minister invited MPs to nominate and bring a Community Champion from the constituency, who have made the area better place to live and work.
As one of Stop the Stink's top team, Mick has spent countless hours volunteering and campaigning to reduce the odour at the landfill and help hold the operator and the Environment Agency (EA) to account. He has been such an important voice for the community over the past few years. I would also like to commend the work of all those who have invested their time and efforts into stopping the stink.
We had the opportunity to speak to the Waste Minister, Rebecca Pow. Mick let her know that we do need to see results from the EA's twin investigations but we recognised that they have to carry out the right legal process. As ever, I will continue to keep pressure on this through the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the EA.
Thank you and congratulations Mick, this was truly well deserved!