Officials deny there's been a 'rotten smell' for days on Milton Keynes estate

The city’s large landfill site has prompted a string of complaints about rotten smells once again.

Bletchley Landfill has been operating in Drayton Road for more than three decades, but 10 years ago developers began building the estate of Newton Leys next to it.

Residents on the estate together with households in part of Bletchley, have often complained about unpleasant smells when the site gas extraction systems develop a fault.

They’ve also previously blamed it for “a plaque of flies” sometimes during hot weather.

Planning permission for the site was due to expire last year but, despite strong objections from MK City Council as well as residents, a government Planning Inspector ruled it could stay open for another 15 years.

Last weekend, Newton Leys residents started noticing a smell from Saturday morning and they say it lasted right through to yesterday (Monday).

Ward Labour councillor Ed Hume decided to investigate with the landfill operators FCC Environment. Today (Tuesday) he posted on social media: “I’ve been in touch with FCC about the smells in recent days. Here is their response.”

Cllr Hume then posted the company’s lengthy explanation, which denies there was a smell on Saturday and states there was only odour for a couple of hours on Monday morning.

The cause, they say, was damaged seals around newly-prepared gas extraction wells. And they blame the malfunction on “substantial rainfall” that fell on Friday.

The seals, made of a clay-like bentonite slurry, were repaired by 10.30am on Monday.

"We are therefore confident we have identified the source and remediated it. We will of course continue to monitor the situation and have increased our inspections,” said the FCC spokesperson.

“We always take our responsibility to minimise odour impacts from our operation on our neighbours very seriously, but on this occasion we have been impacted by a significant weather event. In light of this we will be reviewing the way we seal such wells going forward.”

However, Newton Leys residents were not placated. “If rain is going to be the cause of the smell, we’re in for an awful winter. Not really good enough considering we’re a country that rains 50 weeks a year,” said one householder.

Another said: “I woke up Saturday morning to the whole house smelling of it, let alone outside. No way did they not smell it then.”

Cllr Hume has now advised residents that it is “really important” to report any smells from the site to the Environment Agency, which can be contact by phone on 0800 807 060 or on email at [email protected].

The landfill site is a former clay pit that was once part of the Newton Longville brickworks and took much of the city’s rubbish in pre-recycling days.

Ironically, these days most of the smelly refuse tipped in it does not even come from Milton Keynes homes.

Because the city council has become greener in its waste collection, it is sending less and less rubbish to landfill each year.

As a result, rubbish going into the Bletchley Landfill is transported in from areas such as Central Bedfordshire and even certain parts of London.