'Rotten reek from waste site is ruining our summer' (From Bucks Free Press)

'Rotten reek from waste site is ruining our summer'

5:30pm Friday 24th August 2012 in News By James Nadal

A ROTTEN rubbish site reek is making life miserable for residents who say a growing vile smell is ruining their summer.

High Heavens waste centre in Great Marlow is living up to its name as a dreadful lingering odour drifts over neighbouring households.

Complaints to the Environment Agency have rocketed in August.

Hot weather has been partially blamed but puzzled officials are still trying to locate the source of the stink.

Vanda Gardner, 70, retired, of Harman Walk, said she, her husband and neighbours are appalled.

She said: "You can’t sit in your garden because it makes you feel sick. It’s the most foul smell, it’s vile and absolutely horrible."

Councillor Brian Pearce, also of Harman Walk, said: "The residents in the vicinity of Booker have just about had enough of the intense and vile smell that’s projected from the composting facility at High Heavens."

 

He said it is unacceptable that during summer residents have to stay inside to avoid the odour.

He said: "It sticks at the back of your throat it’s very offensive. It's a bit like the burnt carbon smell you get after a barbecue but with rotten vegetation. It's a very strong odour, which literally bites at the back of your throat.

"On Friday it was unbelievable."

He has made numerous complaints to the Environment Agency.

Cllr Pearce, who represents Booker at Wycombe District Council and is also a Great Marlow Parish Councillor, said the awful odour is getting into the nostrils of residents ranging from Lane End, to Wycombe Marsh and onto Desberough Avenue, High Wycombe.

He believes it has a radius of 15 to 20 square miles and added: "It’s unacceptable and it's having a very big impact on people’s lives."

Hayley Willoughby, spokesman for the Environment Agency, said: "We are fully aware of the issue, have receive these complaints and are working with the site."

Waste is being moved quicker and improvements are being made to the infrastructure at the site in Clay Lane, Booker, in an attempt to alleviate the problem, she said, though it is still unclear exactly what is causing it.

The agency received 31 complaints in August, eight in July and ten in June and said it will continue to monitor the problem but said the operators are doing everything they can.

Buckinghamshire County Council spokesman Suzanna Ghosh said: "We have taken this report of bad smells very seriously and we're currently working with the site manager of the composting facility, operator CRS Bio Limited and the Environment Agency to identify the problem."