Complaints have started to increase again at Walleys Quarry, with March 27 having the most with 31. The increase in complaints was associated with cold still weather, which has long been associated with odour problems.

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Leader, Simon Tagg, used the meeting of the cabinet to join local MP Aaron Bell in calling for Walleys Quarry to issue an apology and possibly issue compensation to those affected.

He said: "I think thousands of people, particularly in the Thistleberry ward, Knutton ward, Silverdale ward and beyond who have had their lives turned upside down over the last couple of years and I think an apology would go down very well.

"I think the idea of compensation has been involved in this site before and it is something which can be explored I think through legal actions of individuals and not really for this council to take forward."

Despite the recent increase in complaints in the same period last year 412 complaints were reported. Commenting on this, Councillor Andrew Fear, Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning said: "If we look at the equivalent of March last year, I notice complaints to ourselves have fallen five fold and complaints to the Environment Agency (EA) have fallen ten fold.

The company behind Walleys Quarry, moved from their Newcastle HQ earlier in the year (LDR).

"I think that shows the direction of travel is the right way round."

According to the preliminary expert review of data by Ricardo from November 2022 to January 2023 that the threshold for statutory nuisance has not currently been met.

Ricardo states: "In order for there to be a statutory nuisance, some of the FIDOL factors, namely Frequency, Intensity and Duration would need to be at an increased frequency, increased intensity and a longer duration."

The council leader added: "We remain very vigilant about this site, officers are in contact with the operator and the EA and we investigate complaints with the company to determine potential causes and remedy.

"We keep data on record and if necessary we can move forward with the abatement notice process which we have made a pledge to do so."

Deputy leader, Councillor Stephen Sweeney added: "The war's not won, it's winning but it's not won yet. We still get the odd whiff and I think whilst we do get that whiff I think we should carry on with this."

A spokesperson for WQL said: "We find Councillor Tagg's comments deeply unhelpful to all parties in light go the mutual understanding and agreement reached through mediation between Walleys Quarry Ltd and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.

"The Environment Agency's own reporting showing long term, significant and sustained reductions in emissions onsite.

"Since the beginning of 2022, the EA has collected 204 reporting figures across the four monitoring locations around the Quarry. These figures measure the percentage of time during the week that an 'annoyance level' is registered. Of these 204 reports, only 10 registered an 'annoyance level' as occurring for 10% or more of the week. Notably, the most recent figures did not exceed 0.9% across any monitoring station."

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