Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between the powers held by Wyre Council and the Environment Agency?
Primary UK legislation for controlling unwanted odour from landfill sites is held and enforced by the Environment Agency which regulates the day-to-day activity at Jameson Road.
This is considered the most effective way of addressing current concerns about odours and, when applied, can result in the suspension of activity on site until the required conditions are met.
Wyre Council holds different powers. These are powers of statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and only apply when odours from the site unreasonably interfere with the use of a person’s property, ie: their home, garden, or place of work.
The Council must have sufficient evidence available to satisfy itself that a statutory nuisance exists before it can issue an abatement notice.
An abatement notice requires the person(s) responsible for causing the nuisance to abate it within a specified time period. Issue of an abatement notice will not result in site operations being suspended.
In short: Wyre Council requires residents to complete detailed diary sheets to show the impact of unwanted odour on their home garden or place of work, and to enable officers to verify this evidence by way of a monitoring visit in order to action its powers.
Complaints of odour in the community should be made to the Environment Agency.
Many complaints have been made to Wyre Council. Why do these not count as evidence?
All evidence received counts, however the Council only holds powers of statutory nuisance and to action these powers, the Council needs residents to do more than just make complaint. these powers, the Council needs residents to do more than just make complaint. It also needs residents to evidence the continued impact of the odour by completing and submitting diary sheets and allowing Council officers to visit their home and witness the impact of the odour first hand.
The powers held by the Environment Agency work differently. You should continue to make complaints concerning odours from the site to the Environment Agency on their complaint hotline – Telephone 0800 807060. This includes odours experienced both in your property and out in the community.
Why am I suddenly being asked to fill out a diary sheet now?
Residents have been asked to complete diary sheets since the start of the Council’s investigation.
Diary sheets are an essential part of any odour investigation as they document the detail of each incident of odour, demonstrating the frequency and duration of incidents and how the odour is affecting you and your family.
More than 1000 diary sheets have been sent to residents who have complained to the Council about odours from the Jameson Road site to date. However, so far, only a very small number have been returned. Additional evidence is therefore required in order to enable the Council to determine statutory nuisance.
What will happen to my diary sheets once completed?
Your diary sheets will be reviewed by the Environmental Protection Team at Wyre Council to ensure they contain the level of detail required to support the investigation.
An officer will then be in touch to arrange a home visit by a Council officer. This visit is part of the legal verification process and must be completed for the diary sheet to count towards the body of evidence required.
This process will help Wyre Council to reach the level of evidence it needs to action its powers of statutory nuisance against the operator of Jameson Road Landfill. It’s important to note that diary sheets that are not completed in detail cannot form part of the body of evidence required under law for Wyre Council to be able to action its powers of statutory nuisance on behalf of the community.
How many diary sheets do you need to serve an abatement notice?
There is no legal threshold for the number of diary sheets required to support the determination of a statutory odour nuisance, however the more evidence that is made available to the Council’s officers, the quicker a determination is likely to be.
The Council’s officers use diary sheet evidence alongside other evidence such as manned monitoring visits to determine statutory nuisance and have a statutory duty to issue an abatement notice when that determination is made.
Officers must have sufficient evidence to support the determination of a statutory nuisance prior to issuing any abatement notice and must continue to have available sufficient evidence beyond that point to enable them to take effective action in respects to any breach of abatement notice.
Residents are therefore encouraged to continue to maintain and submit diary sheet evidence for as long as they are impacted by the odour. Failure to do so could be seen to suggest that the situation has improved even if it hasn’t and therefore prevent the Council from taking a case forward on behalf of the community.
How long will Transwaste have to abate the odour if issued with an abatement notice?
If an abatement notice is served, the law requires the Council to provide a reasonable time period for the person(s) responsible (in this case Transwaste) to ‘abate the nuisance’.
There are several grounds for appeal against an abatement notice including an unreasonable amount of time being given to achieve compliance and abate the nuisance.
Transwaste could lodge an appeal against an abatement notice within 21 days of issue and could continue to operate whilst the appeal is dealt with by the courts.
What Does a Monitoring Visit Involve?
A monitoring visit requires officers from the Council’s Environmental Protection Team to visit your property in an attempt to witness the odour of complaint.
Officers will normally attend in twos and will stay for up to 1 hour.
They will only attend by prior arrangement unless you have stated that you are happy to receive unannounced visits.
Officers will need to be able to access those areas of your property where you are normally impacted by the odour.
No monitoring equipment will be used during the visit. Officers will simply establish if they can smell the odour and make a judgement as to its intensity and impact.
Officers will be sensitive to your privacy during their visit and will try to minimise any disturbance to you.
What if I Tend to Be Impacted by the Odour Outside of Office Hours?
The Council’s Officers will undertake monitoring visits at whatever time the odour is normally present and causes an impact regardless of the time of day or night.
All monitoring visits will be arranged in advance of the visit having regard to the information provided in your diary sheet(s).
Officers will often call you to check if the odour is present ahead of a scheduled visit to avoid a visit being made unnecessarily.
Will I have to attend court if I contribute to the Council’s investigation?
The Council will also encourage residents to attend court and give evidence as information provided about the case, in particular the impact of the nuisance, is far more impactful when provided by those affected than when provided only by the council’s officers.
It will however only be necessary for a small number of affected residents to give evidence. Therefore, depending on the number of residents who choose to contribute to the council’s investigation not all residents will be required to attend court.
I have reported that the odour makes me feel ill, why isn’t the council taking action in relation to this?
At the present time, whilst many residents have reported experiencing unpleasant symptoms as a result of odours from the Jameson Road site, the Council has not received confirmation from either the NHS or the UK Health Security Agency that the symptoms reported are sufficient to meet the threshold for action under statutory nuisance.
A statement from UKHSA in respects to its position on the matter can be found on the Environment Agency’s dedicated webpage, together with advice as to how to minimise the impact of the odour on health: Information on Jameson Road Landfill Site, Fleetwood, Lancashire - Environment Agency - Citizen Space
The odour does not affect me in my home or workplace, only when I am out in the community. Can I still contribute to the statutory nuisance investigation?
A statutory odour nuisance is one which interferes with the use and enjoyment of property. The Council is therefore only able to consider evidence from residents which relates to the impact of the odour in their home, garden or workplace.
Residents impacted by the odour whilst out in the community, e.g.: whilst walking the dog, taking children to school, driving to work, etc. should report any incidents of odour to the Environment Agency on their hotline 0800 807060.
The odour is making me feel ill. What should I do?
If you feel that odours from the site are impacting on your health please contact either your GP or NHS 111 who will be able to provide you with health advice.