Steve Witherden addresses Wrexham residents’ concerns about the Hafod Landfill odor and pushes for action from NRW and Enovert.
People think the odor is very bad. Steve has been inside the landfill and has also held meetings in Johnstown. Living near Acrefair, he can smell the problem too. A protest happened last week.
Steve attended the protest with a local councillor named Dana Davies. People from different political groups supported it. Around eighty people protested at the site.
Natural Resources Wales knows about the odor. Steve visited with them last October and discussed the complaints process with Enovert. Enovert runs the landfill site, and they were trying to fix things.
More action is needed to deal with the fumes. NRW visited the site again in January and confirmed the odor was still there. Enovert broke their permit back in December.
Constituents want real action, not excuses. The smell makes life worse for many people. Residents feel their concerns are ignored. Steve often deals with NRW on other cases and will discuss the landfill with them soon.
Wrexham Council will debate a motion to close the site if Enovert and NRW can’t fix the problem. Ken Skates MS raised the issue with the Welsh Government. Mark Isherwood MS also asked for a statement.
There is strong public and government pressure. Steve feels a solution is possible since so many are involved.
People want real-time odor monitoring and stronger rules for site operators. If things do not improve soon, the site may need to close. Closure would take time to fix the issue completely.
The gap between actions and results must close. Residents need clean air now. They have waited too long for a solution.