MINISTER PLEDGES TO KICK UP A STINK OVER WALLEYS QUARRY
Meeting with operator revealed during visit
A GOVERNMENT minister has called for long-term solutions to resolve a landfill smell after visiting the site to see it for herself.
Jo Churchill met with the site operator at Silverdale’s Walleys Quarry and also spoke to local schoolchildren, residents’ groups and Newcastle MP Aaron Bell to hear their concerns.
She currently has responsibility for waste regulation matters at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Mrs Churchill said that within days of taking up her role on September 17, Mr Bell had written to her demanding a meeting to ensure she understood how important the issue was to the local community.
She also revealed she has received letters from children in the area, and that she understood the strength of feeling.
The minister said she would hold the Environment Agency to account, as well as support them in taking appropriate action, while also challenging the operator to address the issue.
Walleys Quarry is the first site visit Mrs Churchill has undertaken in her post at Defra, and she said this highlighted how important the problem was to her.
She said: “I’ve met with the Environment Agency, I get reports from them weekly. I established that very rapidly – I want to know what’s going on weekly. I think that puts a level of rigour into it.”
She added that she wanted to see the gas captured being put to positive uses, such as generating energy and heating homes.
While levels of contamination recorded at monitoring stations have been unacceptably high, they are now below their previous lowest levels.
But Mrs Churchill said she won’t rest yet, and wants to make sure air quality continues to improve.
“I’ve got four kids, and you want them to be able to enjoy playing outside,” she added. “You don’t want to think, ‘If we go outside for the afternoon, it’s not going to be alright because of the smell’.”
She said she had a civil but robust conversation with the operator, telling them she wanted to see work being done properly, and in the shortest timescale possible.
“I believe we all have a job of work to do – and that includes government – but it very much includes the Environment Agency and the operators, who work within a permit system, and others holding them to account to make sure we get good air quality for the residents,” she said.
“The Government’s putting a lot of money into the Towns Fund. We want people to enjoy where they live.
“Making sure that at that landfill site, the smell can be as low as we can possibly drive it is where we want to get to.”
Defra is introducing mandatory electronic tracking of waste across the country in the New Year, and is monitoring the quality of air and water.
Mrs Churchill added: “I hope to come and visit again to make sure everything’s as it should be and that things are going in the right direction.”