Living in the shadow of 'Everest of rubbish'

Residents say 'stink' is just one of the problems they face

- BY GEORGE LYTHGOE

LAST year it pumped out putrid smells that hit the people of Rochdale and Bury in the nostrils, but one small area has been dealing with these problems for years.

The Pilsworth South Landfill, just off Junction 3 of the M66 motorway, quite literally caused a stink at the beginning of 2024.

Politicians described it as ‘like being hit in the face’ and locals said they'd been left feeling sick.

There were even calls for site operator, Valencia Waste Management, to have their licence revoked over the problem.

The Environment Agency installed new monitoring facilities to track air quality around the site in the aftermath.

But EA bosses later said there were no plans to remove Valencia’s licence after action on odour was taken.

For residents who live in the houses on Heap Street - this stench was nothing new. The people living in these homes, on the edge of Heywood, are the closest residents to the landfill site.

The infamous ‘Pilsworth stink’ is just one of a number of problems they've had with the site over the years.

"It used to stink,” according to local resident Barry Wolstenholme. “You couldn’t leave your windows open.

“It wasn’t right, last summer when it was really warm and you wanted your windows open.

“You'd think they'd go somewhere else with more of the rubbish. It shouldn’t just be here.

“They'll be making good money from it, but we suffer with it.

“When they found all that rotten meat a few years back the bluebottle flies that came as a result were awful.

“You just don’t know what they’re dumping.”

Pointing in the direction of the landfill site just half a mile away, Barry added: “When you come down here, you can see that. It's like Mount Everest of rubbish.” His wife Greta was concerned about the health and safety aspects.

Reflecting on the six months of stink, she said: “It was completely awful.