No decision made over plans to tackle bad smells in district

Last night’s council’s Environment and Waste Management scrutiny committee discussed the idea, but it ended without a decision either way.

The plan was originally supported by Councillor Mohammed Shabbir (Heaton, Respect) who wanted a policy introduced to help the Council deal with any new businesses that could cause problems for their neighbours and possibly help it review facilities already existing.

In recent years, Bradford Council has had to deal with various complaints about odours, most recently relating to two sites, Associated Waste Management in Canal Road and Omega Proteins in Denholme.

Although both companies have recently taken steps to improve the smells, the issue remains a regular item on council agendas.

Officers at yesterday’s meeting told committee members that the Council’s planning and environmental health departments were already working together to manage any current or potential odours without the need of an over-arching plan – the Environment Agency is also actively involved.

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Idle and Thackley, Lib Dem) suggested a register could be set up to help identify such sites across the district and how they could be acted on but it was Councillor Val Slater (Royds, Lab) who told the meeting she needed to “put a bit of reality” into the proceedings.

Coun Zameer Shah (Bowling and Barkerend, Cons) said: “We still have a duty of care to residents.”

Councillor David Robinson (Wyke, Lib Dem) warned putting an odour management plan together would be “a task with no finish.”

Another item on the agenda was an update on odour problems from AWM in Canal Road, Shipley, affecting nearby residents.

Members heard from their environmental officers, the Environment Agency and residents themselves that improvements had been noticed – it was agreed the site should continue to be monitored and a further report come back to the committee in April including residents views.