Stacksteads campaigners kick up a stink over lorries (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Stacksteads campaigners kick up a stink over lorries

10:00am Wednesday 28th September 2011 in Stacksteads By Jon Livesey, Reporter

CAMPAIGN Jackie Oakes

COUNTRYSIDE campaigners say ‘terrible’ smells from wagons transporting food waste through the Valley are leaving residents feeling nauseous.

Jackie Oakes, of Stacksteads Countryside Park Group, said wagons move waste from TEG Environmental, at Sharneyford Works, along the A681 to a farm in Tunstead.

Over the last two years the campaigners have complained to Rossendale Council, Lancashire County Council and the Environment Agency.

But the authorities are powerless to act because the firm, which provides products and services for organic waste recycling and in-vessel composting, is not doing anything illegal.

According to Jackie, the wagons travel along the main road through Bacup and Stacksteads several times-a-day.

She said: “The smell really get you at the back of your throat. It’s a very strong smell of rotting produce.

“All the shops in Stacksteads have noticed it. People waiting in the dentist’s end up wanting to be sick before they go in.

“The drivers used to stop the wagons to get a sandwich, but TEG agreed to tell them not to do that.

“One of the problems is that you catch the smell after the wagon has passed so you can’t look to see if they are sealed properly. It really lingers though.

“What the firm is doing might be above board, but that doesn’t make it right. It’s still a terrible smell.”

The TEG Environmental site at Sharneyford Works in on the Bacup-Todmorden border.

Operations director Fergus Healy said the site composts food and garden waste, the majority of which comes from homes in Calderdale.

He said: “We are responsible for the processing of that waste using our completely natural and fully approved in-vessel composting operation, which is totally sealed to prevent odours from escaping from our site. We do not accept wagons loaded with animal waste.”