Councillor Simon Tagg and I both welcome the suspension of waste tipping at the Quarry, and we are very keen to hear the EA's report and explanation for the extraordinary and intolerable levels of odour in recent weeks.
This outcome is a victory for local people, whose consistent reporting of odour incidents hammered home the message that urgent investigation was needed. However, there is still a long way to go and many questions to be answered.
Odour is still persisting around the landfill: I would consider the odour I smelt when driving along Silverdale Road to the Quarry to be about a 4 on the 0-6 scale.
I also met with GPs at Silverdale and Ryecroft Practice earlier, and they described the health impact on their community, with patients presenting with:
🔶 asthma exacerbations
🔶 severe hay-fever type symptoms
🔶 nausea
🔶 depression
🔶 insomnia
This is deeply concerning and I have asked the surgery to write to the Council, in addition to the reporting they have already done to local NHS leaders and Public Health England.
I also recorded a video with Dr Scott - the surgery are struggling to process the volume of contacts they are getting. They are not the best people to contact if you are worried about the smell in general terms, but they reassured me that they do want to see and treat anyone with symptoms or mental health worries.
The Council will still be holding its Extraordinary General Meeting on Thursday. The three key items of business will be:
1️⃣ The report of the Council's Scrutiny Committee, which has just been published
2️⃣ The Council's own report into the weekend of 26th-28th February
3️⃣ Considering a motion with next steps for the Council to take
The agenda and links to the relevant documents are here: https://moderngov.newcastle-staffs.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.a…