Complaints over foul smells from Cannock waste plant are pouring in
Complaints are continuing to pour in over foul smells from a Cannock waste plant, as residents said they would rather sell up then put up with the stench any longer.
The Environment Agency recorded around 20 reports of excessive odour seeping from the £24million plant in Newlands Park in November. Officials have given Biffa four months to clean up its act and will review the situation in March. Today residents told how they were desperate for an end to months of misery since the plant launched in spring 2011.
Clair Billingham lives in Peregrine Way – around 1,000ft from the Biffa site, off Lichfield Road.
The 41-year-old confronted company boss Dr John Casey at a fiery public meeting over the issue last week, claiming he was being "disingenuous" by apologising for the problems.
Dr Casey told the meeting £800,000 had been invested on adjustments to reduce the stink, which should be completed by the end of January.
Mrs Billingham said today: "I thought it was a lot of rubbish. We are just being fobbed off – I don't think Biffa are sorry.
Sorry
"I don't think it's possible for that plant to operate without impacting on the lives of residents.
"If they want that facility there they should just introduce a 'no man's land'. If they gave me the value of my home I would happily leave the area. As it is, we are trapped."
Julia Simmonds, aged 48, of Rochester Way, added: "It's disgusting. You can't put the washing out, you have to bring it back in again, and what if you want to open your windows? You can't. That plant has made our lives a misery."
Her husband Steve, 53, said: "The Environment Agency should have shut the plant down while this work was going on."
Independent consultants MWH were commissioned to assess odours from the plant, which employs 30 people, this summer, and experts made a series of recommendations. Almost 300 complaints have been lodged about the smells.
