Fleetwood MP Lorraine Beavers has renewed calls for action over the Jameson Road landfill, telling Parliament the regulatory system governing waste sites is "broken" after years of complaints from residents about persistent odours.
Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on the impact of waste management sites on local communities, Ms Beavers said Fleetwood residents had been forced to live with an "intolerable smell" from the landfill for almost three years.
She told MPs: "Over the past two and a half years the Environment Agency has taken increasingly severe action against the operators of the site, each time after the operator has breached their permit and acted unlawfully in the process.
"And still the smell remains and at times recently it has been worse than ever."
The Labour MP said more than 4,000 complaints were recorded in March alone and argued the ongoing situation demonstrated failings within the current regulatory system.
She said: "Residents can make thousands of complaints, people and businesses can be forced to leave an area all because of an operator acting unlawfully and residents are still being left breathing the same foul air.
"If the system we have cannot prevent that from happening then it is broken."
Transwaste has previously said that it takes odour nuisance "seriously" and that it is "fully committed" to working constructively on air quality at the site.
Following the debate, campaign group Action Against Jameson Road Landfill welcomed Ms Beavers' intervention.
In a statement, the group said: "A huge thank you to Lorraine Beavers for continuing to fight for our community and for raising Jameson Road Landfill again in Parliament.
"In our opinion, it's now clear that DEFRA needs to step in and put more pressure on the Environment Agency to act.
"The failures are there for everyone to see, and the people of Fleetwood and the surrounding areas are still suffering every single day."
The latest developments come as landfill operator Transwaste Recycling and Aggregates Ltd prepares to challenge an abatement notice served by Wyre Council over odour emissions from the site.
The notice, issued on April 30, requires the company to abate the nuisance and prevent it from recurring.
An initial court hearing is scheduled to take place this month.
Responding to questions about the abatement notice, a spokesperson for Transwaste said: "On the matter of Wyre Council's abatement notice, our position is unchanged.
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"Transwaste confirms it has lodged an appeal against the notice, exercising its legal right to challenge a notice it believes was unjust and disproportionate, while continuing to deliver a capping and gas management programme that goes well beyond its regulatory obligations.
"The appeal will be heard this month."
Campaigners have continued to call for stronger enforcement action, with residents' groups arguing that repeated permit breaches and ongoing odour complaints demonstrate wider failings in the management of the site.
Ms Beavers told Parliament that despite years of complaints from residents to the council, Environment Agency and the government, "the smell remains", adding that communities should not have to endure such impacts while regulatory processes continue.
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