'It should be permanently capped'

Long-term solution wanted as landfill complaints decline

- Jon Bamber

CONTROVERSY: Complaints about odours at Walleys Quarry have subsided... but what should happen to the site now?

FAMILIES living on a new housing estate next to Walleys Quarry say life has improved in the 12 months since it was shut down.

The landfill site was issued with a Closure Notice by the Environment Agency (EA) on November 28, 2024.

The site operator, previously part of Red Industries, subsequently entered liquidation in February and abandoned the landfill.

Since then the EA has been managing the site to prevent the possibility of pollution and odour complaints to Newcastle Borough Council have fallen from 4,300 in the first 10 months of 2024, to a few each month.

Now, families in Dill Close, Newcastle, say the smell coming from the site has nearly gone.