STATEMENT ON WALLEYS QUARRY REOPENING AFTER FIRE ON SITE

The Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has reacted to news that Walleys Quarry will begin accepting waste deliveries once more, just a few days after a large fire at the landfill site.

Cllr Simon Tagg said: “It is frustrating, I fully understand why residents do not comprehend why the Environment Agency, which regulates the site, is not able to stop the operator accepting waste again before we know what caused the fire and fully understand all its implications.

“In light of the foul odours plaguing our communities we have called repeatedly for the problems to be addressed and then the site closed and events such as this simply emphasise why the community is so concerned.”

From 1st January to 31st July this year the Borough Council received 3,750 complaints about odours coming from the site in Silverdale, more than double the number received in the whole of 2023.

He added: “The Environment Agency suspended operations at the site in March for improvement work to be carried out.

“We were told this was done to the EA’s satisfaction, yet the problem remains: by the end of July the council had already received more than double the number of odour complaints than in 2023 - and there are still five months left in the year.

“The current approach is not working and there can only be one answer – closure.”