Pressure grows for answers over factory stench

Campaigners who say they have been living with years of foul smells from a Bradford animal rendering plant have been told they should not have to wait any longer for answers.

Councillor Matt Edwards, the new chair of Bradford Council's cross party Regulatory and Appeals Committee, has called for an urgent update on enforcement action at the P Waddington and Co site.

Senior council officers have been ordered to produce a report to be discussed at a committee meeting in September, when a seven-month deadline agreed earlier this year is due to expire.

Councillor Ian Walker, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Communities, said the council was listening to people's concerns.

He said: "We understand how frustrating it is for residents and businesses in the area that these foul smells exist.

"I want to reassure them that this is an issue that we are working very hard to resolve."

Edwards said the delays had gone on for far too long, with people living in the area having to "put up with a genuinely gut-wrenching smell for years."

He said: "It's affecting their health, their businesses and their quality of life."

The Green councillor and local party group leader, who took over as committee chair in May, said residents now deserved to see the reports produced over the past six months.

"My job as chair isn't to defend decisions that have already been made," he said.

"It's to make sure residents get answers and that the committee holds the council to account."

The renewed pressure follows fresh concerns about the plant, including recent reports of a full animal carcass found on a nearby public road and complaints about a powdery residue settling on vehicles.

More than 3,700 people have now shared a petition calling for the plant's operations to be suspended while an independent investigation is carried out.

Edwards said that at a meeting in February, environmental health officers had asked councillors for more time to complete their work before any further decision was taken.

The committee had agreed, with an update due within seven months.

Campaigners said that deadline must now mean something.

Lead campaigner Ummer Daraz said public support had grown because more people felt they had simply had enough.

"For years residents and businesses around Leeds Road and the surrounding neighbourhoods have reported being affected by persistent offensive odours," he said.

"This is no longer an issue that could be regarded as affecting only a handful of properties immediately next to the plant."

He said the smell affected how people experienced their homes, workplaces and the city itself.

Daraz described the planned committee meeting on 17 September as a "crucial" moment.

"September is the point at which the community expects that work to result in a clear decision rather than another delay," he said.

Campaigners want the full history of complaints, evidence gathered by council officers and independent specialists, and the experiences of residents and businesses to be placed before councillors.

Daraz added that if the evidence supported revoking the plant's environmental permit, the council should have the confidence to do so.

"After years of living and working with this problem, the community deserves a lasting solution," he said.

P Waddington and Co said it continues to work constructively with the council.

Director Alistair Collins said the company had always operated within the requirements of its permit and emissions management plan.

The company also said it had agreed a protocol for independent testing and monitoring of emissions, while pointing out that the site is in a designated industrial area where other businesses also handle animal products.

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