Thousands sign petition over Walsall landfill site smell

A petition carrying more than 3,000 signatures was handed in to Walsall Council on Monday urging the authority, MPs and the Environment Agency to stop the noxious smell at Highfields South Landfill site in Walsall Road.

The problem has been affecting people living in Walsall Wood, Rushall, Shelfield, Brownhills, Clayhanger and Pelsall for a number of weeks, they claim.

Bosses at Enovert, which runs the site, said they are listening to concerns and working with the Environment Agency to resolve the issue.

They also said they are keen to resurrect an old liaison group made up of company representatives, councillors, MPs and residents to discuss the issue.

Natalie Gallagher, who started the online petition, said: “I live approximately half a mile from the site and the smell is so bad particularly through the night, it leeches into my home even when the doors and windows are shut affecting sleep quality and some mornings we wake up feeling physically sick.

“We have to run steamers through the night with essential oils to disguise the smell and during the day burn candles.

“When you wake up you feel trapped because your home smells of a noxious, gassy, eggy stench but you can’t even open your windows because the smell outside is even stronger.

“On some days I’ve had to leave my home to get a break from the odour because it’s made me feel ill constantly smelling it.

“You can drive all the way through Brownhills some days before you are free of the smell.”

Her views have been backed by thousands of comments posted on the petition with Karen Knight saying: “The smell is so bad it makes you start retching and nearly throwing up.”

Rachel Pritchard added: “I live in this area and the smell is awful and constant. This is seriously affecting people’s quality of life and something needs to be done.”

Rushall-Shelfield Councillor Richard Worrall, who presented the petition to the authority, said he was pleased with the company’s response to calls to set up a new liaison group.

He said: “I contacted the chief executive Mark Silvester about the need to resurrect the group, which fell away due to lack of interest.

“There will be plenty of interest now and he is keen and promised to come back to me.”

Mr Silvester said the number of complaints they received started to increase around six weeks ago following drilling that was carried out for gas infrastructure work but the exact cause of the smell was still to be ascertained.

He added: “We are aware that the petition was being run and the concerns of councillors about resurrecting the liaison group.

“That fell away due to a lack of interest but we have previously offered to get that back up and running and it is something we are promoting so we can explain what we are doing and listen to residents.

“We are working with the Environment Agency and inspecting the site to address the concerns.”

The size of the petition means the issue will be discussed at a full Walsall Council meeting next month.

Meanwhile hundreds of people have signed a petition to put an end to the "unbearable stench" coming from the Poplars landfill site in Cannock.