Inquiry into 'stench' from landfill site

AN INQUIRY is to be held into a landfill site amid concerns about an "unbearable" stench blighting villagers' lives for the past two decades.

- CHRIS HAINES

Members of the Senedd's petitions committee agreed to take evidence after more than 1,100 people signed a petition about the landfill site at the former Hafod quarry in Johnstown, Wrexham.

Steve Gittins, who submitted the petition, which calls for the permit to be revoked, said monitoring showed levels of odour as much as four times the recognised detection limit.

But the campaigner argued a monitoring report attempted to downplay the results by citing industrial thresholds that are "entirely inappropriate" for residential areas.

In an update to the committee, Mr Gittins warned that persistent odour nuisance was disruptive to quality of life and could affect stress levels, sleep patterns and mental health.

"This situation is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue," he wrote, adding that the community had for too long felt ignored and abandoned.