East Anglian sites we receive the most enquiries about

Bletchley landfill is a regulated facility that is managed and operated by FCC Waste Services (UK) Limited under Permit EPR/BM4635IH. The site is a former clay extraction quarry associated with brick making. The current permit allows the operation of:

• landfilling 
• leachate treatment facility that discharges to sewer
• use of spark ignition engines to generate electricity from the landfill gas extracted from the site. 

Our officers undertake a range of activities to check that FCC Waste Services (UK) Limited are complying with their permit conditions. This includes periodic audits, regular inspections, assessment of monitoring data, and investigating amenity complaints such as odour. If a breach of permit conditions is identified, we will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action; this action can range from advice and guidance through to prosecution for serious offences.

You can read about the latest news for Bletchley landfill site in the News section at the foot of the main page.

Bellhouse Landfill Site is run by the operator Enovert South Limited, under permit reference EPR/NP3736DS and located off Warren Lane, Colchester, CO3 0NN. Enovert South Limited holds a waste management environmental permit for waste activities (disposal by landfill) and is also a generator for renewable energy. 

The Environment Agency regulates the site to monitor compliance with the conditions in the permit.

One of our focusses is to make sure that the site operator, Enovert South Limited, takes the right actions to minimise odour. We know that some types of odours are very distressing for people and that it can have a negative effect on all aspects of wellbeing.

The environmental permits issued by us include conditions that require the operator of the site to ensure they protect the environment and human health. In the case of odour, the operator of the permitted site is required take steps to “prevent or where that is not possible, to minimise odour to a level that is not likely to cause pollution, as perceived by an Environment Agency officer.”

Sites that have the potential to cause odour are required to use appropriate infrastructure, management techniques and abatement equipment to tackle the potential odour pollution. As the regulator, it is our role to robustly challenge the operators of these sites to ensure their systems are fit for purpose and operate effectively. Where sites are not doing this and we are made aware of odour reports, we will provide advice and guidance, use our enforcement powers or in serious cases, prosecute the operator of the site.

We are:

• Increasing our compliance inspection frequency of the site and have additional officers working on the site. You may see some of our officers active in your area conducting odour assessments. We carry out these checks to substantiate the source and intensity of the odour in the area.
• Investigating the source of the odours. Where we find unacceptable levels of odour coming from the site, we will use the appropriate regulatory powers to ensure that the operators fix the problem as soon as possible. Subsequently we have requested an ‘Action Plan’ for Enovert South Limited to comply with.

You can read about the latest news for Bellhouse landfill site in the News section at the foot of the main page.

Cherry Tree Farm, Stow Bedon, Attleborough, Norfolk, NR17 1BY has a permit (Permit Number – UP3936RL) from the Environment Agency (EA) under the Environment Permitting Regulations (EPR) 2016 for the rearing of production pigs.

Cherry Tree farm has been a pig farm for at least 30 years. It was originally an under threshold/unpermitted sow unit. The original permit was issued January 2017 for 6990 pigs to be housed in a mixture of the old existing buildings and new buildings. This was then varied in 2018 to its current permit. The ten old buildings were replaced with seven new, ‘’Best Available Techniques’’ (BAT) compliant buildings. The ventilation was changed from naturally ventilated to mechanically ventilated, using high velocity roof fans designed to achieve an efflux velocity of 10m/sec. The site was fully stocked and operational early June 2021.  

The Environment Agency are responsible for setting the permit conditions for the site and making sure that permit holders comply with them. We conduct unannounced periodic audits and inspections to check that the operators are complying with their permit conditions. We investigate complaints of amenity (e.g. odour and noise) and make sure the operator is taking appropriate measures to prevent or minimise any impacts offsite. 

If a breach of permit conditions is identified, we will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action; this action can range from advice and guidance through to prosecution for serious offences.

Compliance Inspections: 

We have been assessing the odour from the site over the last few years and officers have carried out eight full compliance inspections and over 40 odour assessments in the area. Assessments have been carried out by at least eight different officers, so a range of sensitivities to smell have been represented.  

Whilst we sometimes detect malodours from the site on its boundary with the public footpath, we have only confirmed strong odours in the grounds of the nearest residential property on a few occasions. The operator has found to have breached their odour permit condition on four occasions for not following the appropriate measures in their Odour Management Plan.

Odour: 

We started receiving odour complaints about the site approximately one month after it started operating. When we have detected odour, it is usually attributed to the morning mucking out of the buildings or to the manure store. This required them to review their plan and implement additional measures to minimise odour from site.

What have we done?

• Regular assessments of odour to confirm the extent, severity, and source of the odours.
• Regular inspections of the Farm to assess the sources and underlying causes of the odour and to monitor actions being taken by the operator to address the issue.
• Issued an EPR Enforcement Notice on the operator for breaches of permit at the site in relation to odour and emission points to air requiring the operator to make infrastructural and operational improvements on the site to further minimise odours off-site.
• Regular liaison with the site operator. This includes assessing any improvements they are implementing.

The first EA compliance inspection of the site was in July 2021. Following the inspection, we requested further information regarding the operation and technical details of the ventilation system and house design as it differed from the information provided by the operator in their permit application and the basis on which the permit was issued.

We issued an enforcement notice last year due to breaches of permit at the site in relation to odour and emission points to air. As a result, the operator has now made infrastructural and operational improvements on the site to further minimise odours off-site.

We are in regular contact with the site operator regarding any complaints made by residents and continue to carry odour assessments in the area and inspect the site, and where possible, will seeking improvements to site activities that will help to further minimise odours off-site.

You can read about the latest news for Bellhouse landfill site in the News section at the foot of the main page