Complaints to Environment Agency over Stanway Bellhouse landfill

Residents in the Stanway area of Colchester say the stench emanating from the Bellhouse landfill site “is affecting lots of people”.

It comes as the Environment Agency confirmed to the Gazette it received 44 reports about an “odour” coming from the site in Warren Lane last month.

A nearby resident, who did not want to be named, says the unpleasant whiff can be smelt from villages as far away as Marks Tey.

Landfill - the Bellhouse site in Stanway

“In Copford, Heckfordbridge, Marks Tey, everywhere the wind blows, they get the stench and this has become a constant issue for us in Stanway,” they said.

“I’ve been having chest issues since I moved to Stanway four years ago.

"I was a very healthy person. I’m young, but since I moved to Stanway, I’ve had respiratory issues and my chest feels heavy.

“Some residents are unable to use their gardens and feel isolated because of this issue. They can’t have their friends or families over and with summer coming up, anxiety about the odour is high.

“Lots of children aren’t able to sleep at night because the odour is leaking into their homes and giving them headaches.”

Upset neighbours are now pushing councillors and others to commission an independent air quality study to get to the bottom of the issue at the site.

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What do the council and landfill bosses say?

Last year, Essex County Council confirmed an extension had been approved, allowing the site to be used for landfill until the end of 2026.

The authority says anyone affected by the issue should raise their concerns with the Environment Agency, which enforces the conditions of the site’s environmental permit.

“There has been no increase to the planned input sources from Essex County Council going into the site for the previous year,” a council spokesman added.

The Environment Agency confirmed it is “investigating recent reports of odour thought to be from the site” and that it has “increased our resources and frequency of site inspections”.

It added while there are “potentially several odours that could be attributed to the landfill”, there are “potential other sources of odour in the local area”.

Mark Silvester, chief of Enovert which runs the site, says the company has agreed an action plan with the Environment Agency and has “diligently undertaken the works it committed to complete”.

He added: “Enovert is due to give an update on these works to the parish council and liaison committee so that more detail can be provided to local residents on these works, the controls in place at the site and our forward schedule of engineering and restoration activities."