Residents tell of SMELL HELL

Published on 27th July 2006 in News

There has been uproar in Spaldington this week after residents have complained that waste from a nearby farm has not been disposed of correctly and is causing an unbearable odour in the village.

More than 100 complaints from people living in the Spaldington area have been voiced to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's environmental health department over smells that appear to be emanating from a farm on the main Howden to Bridlington Road.

The farm has not been named, but it is said to be situated near the water tower at Spaldington and has allegedly not been disposing of rotting animal parts properly.

However, the Environment Agency says it has been unable to confirm that the smell is coming from the nearby farm, and there have been allegations from Spaldington Parish Council that there may be a number of local composting operations that are in breach of planning consent after spreading compost over land outside the allotted hours, which are 9am to 4pm, Monday to Thursday.

A concerned resident told the Goole Times: "The smell has been absolutely appalling for over a week now.

"It has invaded the house and has been unbearable to live with. Some villagers are feeling physically sick because of the smell and others haven't been able to hang out their washing due to the way it permeates everything.

"The stench has been so bad that it woke us up one night. In this heat, the whole issue has been made ten times worse."

In May this year, it was made illegal to tip waste on a farm without a landfill permit, which is both expensive and difficult to get, so the Environment Agency advised farmers to stop putting waste in their tips before the regulations took effect.

A spokesperson for the East Riding of Yorkshire Council said that it had received well under 100 complaints about the odour, believing that many residents may have sent complaints to the wrong department so they have not been processed.

"The council's environmental control team has received complaints about a farm near Spaldington," said the spokesperson.

"These complaints relate to an apparent odour issue in the area, which we are now investigating."

In the meantime, Spaldington Parish Council is in talks with the Environment Agency over the matter, and will be arranging an urgent council meeting shortly to deal with the situation.

Neil Smith, environment management team leader at the Environment Agency, said: "As a result of complaints received, a team of six Environment Agency officers audited the operations at the site and the subsequent spreading of the waste on Monday, July 17.

"We were unable to confirm that the farm in question was the source of the odour that local residents have complained about."