Landfill told to close - why are people so happy?

“I’m absolutely elated. We’ve been waiting for this for years and years and years and years."

To what could that be referring? A Lotto win? A football team's seemingly never-ending quest for silverware? News of tiny feet?

None of the above, actually. It's instead a campaigner's response to a landfill site being told to shut. And while that may not sound like a big deal, just ask those living next to the site in Silverdale, Staffordshire.

Horrid smells coming from Walleys Quarry have been plaguing residents for years.

More than that, fumes there have been found to be noxious, and at times exceeding guideline emission levels. Some have even linked such gasses to ill health in the vicinity.

Now, after years of legal wrangling, and back and forth between campaigners, environment officials and the site itself, the quarry has been ordered to close.

The Environment Agency (EA) issued a closure notice on Thursday. That procedure prohibits new waste being delivered to the site from Friday.

Walleys Quarry Ltd, which owns the premises, confirmed it would challenge the notice “using all available options”.

So, why has the EA acted this way now - a marked step up from its monitoring and warnings of recent years?

• Read live coverage of events in Silverdale on Thursday here.

The EA said it had simply exhausted all other enforcement options, which had included more than 180 inspections. It also described the management of Walleys Quarry as “poor”.

Ian Jones, the regulator's area director for the West Midlands, said: “We have every sympathy with the local community and have worked tirelessly to resolve the problem of landfill gas emissions from the site.”

He added that issuing a closure notice was not a decision the agency took lightly but the operator had been given sufficient time to put effective measures in place and had failed to do so.

Upon hearing news of the closure notice, many campaigners gathered at the site on Thursday to celebrate - including Stop the Stink's Lee-Bernadette Walford who expressed the elation at the top of this story.

She did, though, also sound a note of caution.

“We have got a really long road ahead of us because they've issued the paper but that doesn’t make the smell go away,” she explained.

Complaints about the landfill, located off Cemetery Road and close to a number of houses, date back to about 2020.

The EA previously said the smells were caused by hydrogen sulphide, concentrations of which were regularly recorded as exceeding guideline levels at the three closest monitoring stations.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the gas would likely cause neighbours to experience headaches, nausea, dizziness, watery eyes, stuffy noses, irritated throats, coughs or wheezes, sleep problems and stress.

Stop The Stink, made up of those living nearby, has held a number of protests outside Walleys Quarry, calling for the site’s closure.

Reacting to the closure notice, a spokesperson for Walleys Quarry Ltd accused the EA of not engaging with its “extensive factual and legal submissions”.

It rejected accusations made by the agency relating to poor management of the landfill.

“We are clear that keeping the site open delivers greatest benefit and sustainability for the site,” they said.

“We will challenge this decision using all available options.”

The closure notice said Walleys Quarry Ltd had two months from the issuing date to lodge an appeal.

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