Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Stink over Holme on Spalding Moor

Many of you will have noticed the foul smell that drifted over the village of Holme on Spalding Moor last Friday afternoon and evening (9th May), and many thanks to residents for the calls and emails. I spoke at length to both ERYC Public Protection and the Environment Agency and was reassured to find they were both ‘on the case’ visiting the site at approx 9pm that same evening. The source of the smell was identified and offending composter contacted, and told to remedy the situation. I spent some time with residents in HOSM on Saturday morning and whilst the smell was not as bad there was an intermittent stink drifting over from behind the hill. It is clearly not acceptable for a composter to subject residents to such a vile stench at anytime, let alone on a Friday evening, and rest assurred I will continue to work to improve the situation.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul,
I presume the smell in question is from behind the hill in HOSM.
Do you think as residents we are doing nothing about this smell - we are fed up with complaining and being told by the various agencies that they are doing what they can. We smell this at all hours day and night - the smell even drifts into our house. At times our children cannot play in the garden. The HOSM Parish Council are trying to get answers but seem to hitting a brick wall. Spaldington people think they have got it bad - but the smell and the actual materials being used at the site in question are 10 times worse. Paul if you can kick backsides and get things moving - then good luck to you - we are behind you all the way.

Anonymous said...

Will David Davis be as supportive here - probably not as it is not on his doorstep !!!!!!!! In the past 'us residents' of HOSM have had little support from him.

Paul Robinson said...

I know from speaking to people in HOSM that you've been trying to do something about the smell from 'behind the hill' for a considerable time, it was first brought to my attention prior to last May's election.

In many ways the problems are not dissimilar to Spaldington and other villages, (but I am aware that some of the materials being taken in are in many ways much worse). This is one of the reasons I've always mentioned Howdenshire Villages wherever possible rather than just Spaldington.

It was established by the ERYC Overview and Scrutiny Committee investigation that the problem is with the regulation of the composting industry, and what role each regulatory body supposedly have, unfortunately this is a problem rooted in central Government and this is what ultimately needs to be changed.

I have spoken to ERYC Public Protection again today and we are looking at a way forward which will probably involve a multi-agency solution, which as you can imagine is always going to be complex.

I can confirm that I’ve spoken and met with David Davis MP many times at different locations on this issue. He has been very helpful in opening doors and giving advice. I can assure you that he is concerned about agricultural composting in all Howdenshire villages, particularly HOSM and I’m sure he will be one of the keys to finding a solution to this problem.

Anonymous said...

Re David Davis The previous comment is not far wrong. Yes he seems to communicate our concern to the various agencies and does on occassion feed back, but in his position he needs to be more vocal and make his presence known and not just on his own doorstep. After all it is not just Spaldington votes that will win the next election for him. We need all the help we can get. People need to know what is going on outside HOSM and the implications and problems it could bring not just now but in the future.