A nasty smell - but will it be worth it in end?

Newspaper: Wakefield Express. Story: Residents around the Denby Dale Road area of Wakefield are very unhappy at the smell of the treated human sewage that is being used as landfill on the former British Oak coal disposal site. Photo date: 09/07/15 Picture Ref: AB118a0715

Restoration specialists Land Engineering Services (LES) is carrying out the work at the British Oak coal disposal site on Denby Dale Road.

The work includes importing inert waste which is covered with compost to create a wildlife meadow.

But people living near the site claim it has made living on the street a “nightmare”.

Richard Walton, of Denby Dale Road, said: “The noise created by up to 70 wagons passing on a near daily basis is horrendous. Over the past few weeks fertiliser has been imported to the site, which has created an obnoxious stench.

“The smell is so bad that we were unable to leave our houses let alone open a window or door for fresh air.”

The British Oak landlord Rick Berry said the stench is causing his pub to lose trade.

He said: “We are known for our beer garden. But on Saturday at 2pm, one of the hottest days of the year, we had two people in. The smell is keeping people away.”

The colliery was used as a strategic coal stocking area by British Coal up to 1993.

And LES began the restoration work in September 2012.

Mr Walton said he has made several complaints to Wakefield Council but he has received no response.

The council’s service director for planning, transportation and highways Neil Rodgers said: “We take all complaints seriously and these are logged, investigated and responded to.

“There have been occasional issues with odours and we are sympathetic to residents, but our monitoring systems have indicated that these are not above the levels that would trigger stopping of operations.

“Since 2012 we’ve received four complaints about noise but have carried out 74 site monitoring visits, many of which were unannounced.”

LES director Dean Devine said he expects the work to be completed within the next three or four weeks.

He said: “We have been building a wildlife meadow which is great for the environment. We have just invested in new road sweepers, which has brought 35 jobs to the area. I understand the smell is odious but when all the work has been completed it will be worth it.”