‘Something needs to be done’ about waste site smell', says planning inspector

The comments were made shortly before a hearing over the future of the site in South Elmsall was adjourned due to concerns members of the public had not received adequate notice of the inquiry.

Site operator Minore lodged an appeal after Wakefield Council officers refused its application to allow land at Hackling Lane to remain open for another ten years.

The decision, made in June this year, came after more than 400 residents complained about a “putrid smell”, dust and litter coming from the facility.

Shortly before postponing the case on Tuesday (November 11), planning inspector Melvyn Middleton said he had carried out a site visit at the facility five days earlier.

He said: “On walking to site, once I got up the hill and started walking through the area, I increasingly began to smell odorous smells.”

The inspector said he then left the site and walked towards a nearby area occupied by Next warehouses.

He added: “The further I got away, the less the smell became.

“I’m not saying that’s conclusive that the smell is coming from the appeal site, but it’s certainly indicative that something is wrong.

“Certainly, I tend to think that something in the round needs to be done about it.”

Mr Middleton said he had since been told by the Environment Agency (EA) that officers had carried out unannounced visits at the site “in the recent past”.

He added that the remit of the public inquiry only related to the continued use of the site for extracting materials.

Mr Middleton continued: “Whatever the decision is, it ought not hinder the remediation of the odour problems.

“If anything, the decision ought to assist that remediation.”

The inquiry has been re-scheduled for March 17 next year.

Minore, also known as Mineral Processing Ltd, has also appealed an EA decision to remove its licence over concerns the facility was causing a health hazard.

The regulator issued a permit revocation notice, which came into effect on July 4, after an inspector said excessive amounts of hazardous material stored at the land had created multiple health risks.

A report said the facility also posed a risk to nearby watercourses, including Frickley Beck.

The permit had allowed a maximum of 50,000 tonnes to be stored at the facility.

According to documents, almost five times the permitted amount of materials had been stored on the land.

However, information provided by Minore between 2016 and 2023 revealed there were 233,772 tonnes at the site.

A further public inquiry over the EA licence revocation is due to take place in December.

A spokesperson for the operator said: “Currently the site is excavating materials and processing them, which is not in contravention of the notices issued by the EA but in compliance with them.

“The company samples the water regularly as part of the monitoring regime and has found no effect on Frickley Beck when taking water samples.”