Dust clouds are so bad, say villagers in factory dispute
FORTY people have joined a working group following a meeting to look at complaints regarding the operation of a factory near Ashbourne.
The first public meeting took place at Calton Village Hall to look at setting up a working group to deal with noise and dust emissions from the Lafarge Cement factory in Cauldon.
It comes after the Environment Agency has so far this year received 108 complaints regarding the factory, located near Waterhouses. This includes 98 for noise, nine for dust and one for odour. The figures are up from 80 complaints for 2020 and just four in 2019.
Waterhouses Parish Council has so far this year received 38 complaints. Of these, 11 relate to noise and 27 to dust and smoke. Reports have been sent in from as far away as Swinscoe.
Parishioners have cited the lack of improvement and the frequent lack of response from the factory, often being unable to even get their calls to the plant to be answered. Residents
have also spoken about how the conditions are affecting their health.
The first meeting was organised by resident Steven Locke.
At the last monthly meeting of Waterhouses Parish Council, Mr Locke gave councillors a report on the introductory meeting. He said: “The meeting spoke about the issues of unmonitored dust from the factory and also the noise. I have taken noise readings of 58dba which is not acceptable and is way above those recommended.
“Noise can damage your health. It can lead to disruption of sleep which is dangerous. Many people are upset as it is bad for you and can also lead to heart issues.
“Dust is difficult to measure. We had a video of dust coming from the factory. The dust clouds are so bad and are coming out of the side of the factory buildings. We have no desire to shut down the factory as it brings £11 million to the local economy.
“The issue is the operation of the factory. It seems that they have taken the profits and let the factory run down.
“Our first aim is to strike up a working relationship with Lafarge and work together on the issues. They need to come to the table and talk, but they refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem.
“The Environment Agency have given them a notice of none compliance. Now Lafarge has to recognise that changes have to be made.
“We now have already got 40 people in the group and environment groups in the Staffordshire Moorlands have approached us.
“These two main issues are causing anxiety for people. We will talk to the Environment Agency and in the meantime I would urge people to contact the EA if they have a complaint, on their 24 hour hotline.”
A company spokesman has said Lafarge has already held constructive meetings with representatives of the group to further understand their concerns.