New campaign calls for end to Fife landfill site ‘stink’

It is a situation residents who live in the villages around the Lower Melville Wood landfill site will be familiar with – but this time Mr Buchanan has decided to take action.

The ‘ultimate insult’ is part of the reason he, along with Neil Brooks, secretary of the Giffordtown & District Community Council, has launched a new campaign, ‘stop the stink’.

The mission statement is simple: to stop the smell which comes from the landfill.

Signs have been placed next to roads throughout the area and a Facebook page has been set up, inviting other frustrated residents to share their complaints – more than 275 locals have joined already.

At a public meeting last month, residents packed into a local hall to voice their concerns to bosses from Fife Resource Solutions, which runs the landfill site, and SEPA, the environmental regulator.

Mr Brooks said he felt that residents felt ‘motivated’ that they were being listened to, but there were concerns that no commitments had been made about when the smell will stop.

“People want a clear road map about when the smell is going to stop,” he said.

“We understand that it will not happen overnight. Are we looking at March, June? When is the smell going to stop?

“People want clarity, which they can be held to account to. They claim they have learned lessons – what lessons are they and what can they promise us? What can they commit to? What is the road map to a smell-free environment?”

However, Mr Brooks also said that residents had been ‘stunk out’ every day since the meeting.

“They didn’t seem to have any practical plan to fix it,” added Mr Buchanan.

“I got the impression they don’t know why it is so bad, other than climatic conditions, and they didn’t have anything to sort it.”

Over the course of the two hour meeting, residents and local businesses complained about the impact the smell was having on their health, both physical and mental, as well as their day-to-day lives.

Residents also noted that, while there had been a smell at times since the site was opened, the stench had got much worse since 2016.

Mr Buchanan said it was becoming increasingly regular, with a stink invading his home at least one time every day.

The next step for the new campaign is to organise a meeting of group members and form a steering committee to decide on future actions, whether that be setting up a survey to find out more about the impact on local residents, or demonstrating outside the site.

One common comment at the meeting was calling on the landfill site to be closed.

MSP Willie Rennie even suggested that should be the case, if the site continues to breach its permits.

This week, new North East Fife MP Wendy Chamberlain backed her Lib Dem colleague, calling on Fife Council to look at possibly closing the site.

“Local residents have been dealing with this issue for too long already to be asked to deal with it until Fife Resource Solutions and the local council can source and resolve the issue,” she said.

“Since I was elected last month residents have raised concerns with me about the smell coming from the landfill site. The strength and spread of the smell is now having such a negative impact on local residents that it is surely time to consider closing the site until the issue can be resolved.

“If the issue cannot be resolved while remaining operational then other solutions have to be explored and Fife Resources Solution and Fife Council must not rule out temporary closure in order to remove the smell.

“While we appreciate the work that Fife Resource Solutions and the council are doing to resolve this issue, we hope they can go further and ensure there is no return of the smell once it has been resolved.

“Given the nature of the issue and its implications for local residents, I will be continuing to press the issue with the council to make sure it’s dealt with urgently, working with them to ensure it does not happen again in future.”

However, Mr Brooks said the closure of the site was not the main aim of the campaign.

He said: “We want pressure to be brought upon the authorities to actually do something about it.

“I’m not that interested in closing the site, I’m more interested in stopping the smell. If the site did not smell, we wouldn’t mind.”

Robin Baird, chief operating officer, said the improvement plan would be published once it has been approved by SEPA.

He said: “We recently met with community representatives about this site to discuss their concerns and to let them know how work is progressing.

“We want to work with the communities involved and have offered to further meet with local people and businesses monthly. The first meeting in the New Year will be onsite and will show the local community the work we have carried out and the progress and actions we have already committed to.

“We work to the highest standard and are currently accelerating work on capping the present site, and installing a new gas well to further reduce the odours.

“SEPA is the environmental regulator of this site and is reviewing our improvement plan. Once SEPA has approved the plan we will publish it.”