Maligned landfill site now falls to Crown Estate

A landfill site where foul smells from noxious gases plagued neighbours has fallen to The Crown Estate amid a red tape wrangle.

Controversial Walleys Quarry in Staffordshire is technically considered abandoned land after its operator collapsed last month, and has been added to the estate under a process known as "escheat", according to the Environment Agency (EA).

The details emerged during a public meeting on Thursday, where the EA - which ordered Walleys Quarry's closure in November - met with the public to discuss the future of the site in Silverdale.

Residents have long feared that emissions - some found by the EA to be above guideline levels - posed health risks to the community.

EA bosses said they were now using discretionary powers to manage the site, paid for with a £2.6m fund that it previously secured from the operator - Walleys Quarry Ltd - as part of their landfill permit conditions.

The EA said Jackson Civil Engineering was now on site and undertaking work to manage surface water build-up, along with pools of water that had gathered within void areas of the site.

Repairs to damaged capping materials were also under way and could take about two months to complete, the EA added.

It told attendees of the meeting - who included the area's MP Adam Jogee - that longer-term questions about the future of the site could not be answered immediately.

The EA said all agencies involved wanted a "sustainable solution" but that since the site had been abandoned and the permit with the operator no longer existed as a result, it no longer had an official role as regulator at the site.

Under law, the monarch, currently King Charles III, as head of state, owns a superior interest in all land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If a freehold property becomes ownerless, in some circumstances it will fall to the monarch under a process known as escheat which includes things like verges, roadways and disused coal mines.

The Crown Estate said there was no comprehensive list of properties that may be subject to escheat but that it was aware of about 7,000 properties being subject to the status.

The Crown Estate added it did not take any action which might be construed as an act of management, possession or ownership in relation to the property and said it would not act as a guarantor of last resort for companies that had failed financially.

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.