Council appoints barristers ahead of landfill odours legal action

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has appointed Jeremy Phillips KC and Horatio Waller, both of Francis Taylor Building Chambers, for its legal action against the operators of an odorous landfill site.

The borough council claims that the site's operators, Walleys Quarry Ltd, have breached an abatement notice aimed at stopping the firm from allowing or creating a statutory odour nuisance.

The Staffordshire landfill has been the subject of thousands of complaints from locals about foul odours. It has been issued with 109 regulatory breaches since 2019, according to an inquiry report published in September.

Previously, the council has accused the Environment Agency of a "failure to regulate and monitor the site correctly and/or the content of the landfill".

The Environment Agency said it requires the operator to comply with its permit and to implement all the measures necessary to manage emissions of landfill gas from the site, in accordance with the regulatory framework.

Responding to the legal challenge in September, a spokesperson for Walleys Quarry Ltd said that it is focused on managing the site to minimise impacts to the community.

It also noted that the landfill site has an environmental permit and is "stringently regulated" by the Environment Agency.

It is not yet clear whether the judicial review claim is also being brought against the Environment Agency.

The council's chief executive said: "There is a complex, detailed process to be followed and whilst understandably we cannot provide a running commentary on progress we would hope to share the latest position with the public in the next few weeks."

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, meanwhile said: "We have asked the Government to take action to help our community, but we're told that ministers have full confidence in the Environment Agency.

"Unfortunately, I do not share that confidence which is why Newcastle Borough Council is doing all it can, with its limited powers and resources, on behalf of residents to resolve this problem by bringing this complex legal action."

Adam Carey