'Our beautiful little village is being ruined by disgusting smell'
Residents of the village of Spittal have said they are concerned the terrible smell will affect not just them, but the local economy.
Spittal is a pretty little village located in Pembrokeshire, Wales which upon first inspection would appear to look like almost any other village in the UK.
However, it is a place under siege by a smell that locals living in the area are finding hard to live with. They say Spittal smells more and more like rubbish.
Although only about 480 people live in Spittal, a Facebook group dedicated to the smell and its impact on surrounding areas has around 2,000 members.
Two residents, Sue Lewis and Colin Barnett have said the smell is so bad that it has now made its way inside their home and they’re looking for answers.
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Ms Lewis said that it all started in August 2023. She told WalesOnline: “Someone put something up on Facebook - 'what's that funny smell? ' - and lots of us began to notice it. I phoned the council and they told me to contact Natural Resources Wales (NRW).”
The smell is believed to be coming from the Withyhedge Landfill and Materials Recycling Facility which sits just outside Spittal. Its owners, Resources Management Ltd (RML) reportedly has permission to dump around 250,000 tonnes of waste per year.
In response to the odour, both NRW and Pembrokeshire Council have been trying to investigate the smell blighting the village of Spittal and aim to resolve the smell by April 5.
Following a failure to resolve the issue, local businesses have said there are concerns about the impact of the smell on the local economy.
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One local business owner said: “It's the start of the best season for businesses in Pembrokeshire, a county that relies heavily on tourism and hospitality. I want to know what Pembrokeshire Council is planning to do about this issue. It should be a priority for them.”
Meanwhile, Mr Barnett revealed that while a deadline of April 5 was put in place, NRW originally told them the stench should have been fixed as recently as December. He explained: “NRW told us it would be sorted by Christmas and the New Year and it wasn't. It makes people sick. It affects your skin and your breathing.
“It ruined Christmas for us - we were sitting here and we could smell it inside the house. Then, in February, we were given more assurances that it would be resolved soon, that work would be done and that we wouldn't be able to smell anything by April 5. We want action and we're just waiting to see what happens next.”
Ms Lewis added: “There's a sense of helplessness, really. We can't go outside, we can't sit in the garden, and it doesn't really matter if we leave our windows open or closed because the smell will still come into the house.
In a statement about the incident, RML explained that it was “endeavouring to eliminate odours from Withyhedge Landfill by carrying out engineering works”.
They added: “Despite the very poor weather during the engineering works, the excavation, removal, capping and well installation works are complete and last week the gas abstraction system became active.
“Gasses from this part of the site are now being collected and over the next weeks the suction will finally collect the gases generated from this area. Recent surveys have confirmed the very limited escape of gases from this area.”
Express.co.uk has contacted Pembrokeshire Council for comment.
