COUNCIL GRANTED PERMISSION TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST WALLEYS QUARRY

A ‘hard-working’ local authority praised by the Secretary of State for its tireless work on Walleys Quarry has been granted permission by the Government to bring legal action against the site operator.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has received confirmation to proceed from Steve Reed OBE, Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The Council needed Government permission as DEFRA oversees the Environment Agency (EA), which is responsible for regulating Walleys Quarry.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “I welcome the confirmation from the Secretary of State Steve Reed that the council can proceed with legal action against the operators of Walleys Quarry.

“We will pursue the legal action as quickly as possible, but it will be a complex, painstaking process which will take time. We will not be able to give a running commentary on itsprogress but we will ensure that our communities are kept informed at key points in the process.

“Bringing legal action against an operator regulated by an arm’s-length Government agency is rare, but it’s something we feel have to do on behalf of our residents blighted by this long-running issue of gas odours from Walleys Quarry.

“However, I’m also disappointed that the council has to use the limited powers at itsdisposal to help the people of Newcastle rather than being able to rely on the Environment Agency to act on our behalf in its role as the site’s main regulator.”

In his letter to Simon Tagg, Mr Reed said: “I would like to take this opportunity to commend you and the council for your tireless work on behalf of local residents to seek the action and answers they need and deserve.”

Mr Reed added: “Having considered the facts of the case… I am happy to grant consent for your prosecution to proceed.”

In August 2021, the Borough Council served an Abatement Notice against Walleys Quarry Ltd, requiring it to control the odour nuisance caused by the landfill.

The landfill operators contested the action, but dropped the appeal following mediation and the Abatement Notice became enforceable in March 2023.

Accepting that the landfill had been a source of ‘community complaint’, the company agreed it must control odour problems by ‘the best practicable means’ and to publicise information about what was happening there.

In April this year, the Borough Council notified Walleys Quarry Ltd that the site operator had failed to properly control emissions from the landfill in Silverdale and was considered in breach of a court-granted Abatement Notice.