Fifers living near landfill slam councillor over ‘insensitive’ comments

MSP Willie Rennie and MP Wendy Chamberlain launched a petition last month which called for action to be taken to stop the ‘Melville pong’ – the smell which has blighted the lives of those who live near the Lower Melville Wood landfill site.

Responding to the petition, Councillor Ross Vettraino, convenor of the environment, protective services and community safety committee, said he had never smelled it and that it was “grossly exaggerated” saying that locals were smelling “agricultural smells”.

Communities hit back at Cllr Vettraino’s comments this week. Neil Brooks, a local resident and campaigner, said: “Cllr Vettraino’s remarks are both insensitive and unhelpful in the extreme. We know that people are being subjected to nuisance at their homes or places of work or recreation, not because we can smell it on the A92 but because we can smell the odour in our homes.

“We know the smell is coming from the dump because we have been dealing with it all this time. This smell has been bothering residents for years, it is persistent, and the council recognise this, but have not taken the sufficient actions to improve matters.

“The local community is asking for very little, simply that the smell is dealt with so that we no longer need to tolerate it in our homes.”