South Elmsall community ‘consistently ignored’ over foul smell from waste site, hearing told
Hearings are being held over the future of the site at Hacking Lane
Last updated 11th Dec 2025
Residents have been “consistently ignored” for years over a foul smell coming from a waste recycling site, a meeting heard.
A councillor told a government hearing to determine the future of the site in South Elmsall how residents had suffered ill health as result of environmental regulation breaches.
A Planning Inspectorate hearing is being held after the operator of the facility at Hacking Lane appealed against enforcement action taken by the Environment Agency (EA) over concerns it has caused a health hazard.
Hundreds of residents have complained about a stench, dust and litter coming from the land.
A planning inspector’s report published in June said the facility also posed a risk to nearby watercourses, including Frickley Beck.
Michelle Collins, councillor for South Elmsall and South Kirkby, told the meeting: “South Elmsall is a proud former mining town.
“Our landscape still reflects industrial legacy – ash pits, spoil heaps and land that has been worked, reworked, and too often abused.
“The people here have always shown resilience. But resilience should never be taken as an invitation for exploitation.”
Coun Collins said the site had created a “new layer of burden to a community already carrying too much.”
An EA revocation notice for the site came into effect on July 4 but was appealed by Minore, also known as Mineral Processing Ltd.
According to documents, almost five times the permitted amount of materials had been stored on the land.
The permit allowed a maximum of 50,000 tonnes to be stored at the facility.
Information provided by Minore between 2016 and 2023 revealed there were 233,772 tonnes at the site.
The EA has also called for the removal of at least 180,000 tonnes of non-inert material.
Coun Collins continued: “This is not an administrative oversight.
“This is not poor paperwork. This is a colossal disregard for the permit system, for environmental law, and for people who live closest to the site.
“When the EA issued a suspension notice, residents believed, as any reasonable person would, that this meant tipping would stop immediately. But that is not what happened.
“For days and days, wagon after wagon continued to enter the site. Residents saw it, residents reported, residents filmed it.”
Addressing residents at the hearing in Pontefract, Coun Collins said: “Your lives have been disrupted. Your health has been affected. Your homes have been invaded by a stench so strong it has made people physically ill.
“You have been treated unfairly. You have been treated dismissively and you have been treated without the basic respect that every resident deserves.
“The most shocking truth of all is, even now with operations suspended and tipping stopped, the smell continues.
“This tells us just how much waste is rotting on that land.
“It tells us just how serious the problem is and it tells us that merely halting activity is nowhere close to resolving the harm caused.”
Coun Collins urged the inspector to keep the revocation notice in place, adding: “A community cannot thrive under these conditions.
“A community cannot feel safe under these conditions, and a community should never feel abandoned when raising legitimate and serious environmental concerns.”
Jon Trickett, MP for Normanton and Hemsworth, said: “People have told me that they want to sell their houses. But the value of their houses have been impacted by the operation on the site.
“We are dealing with something which is a large-scale nuisance in the area.
“There is a general consensus that the odour and general problems in the area have got worse since the suspension.”
Minore previously said it was “disappointed” with the decision from the Inspectorate.
The company said it plans to transform the land into wildflower meadow, wetland, ponds and public open space.A spokesperson for the firm said: “Currently the site is excavating materials and processing them, which is not in contravention of the notices issued by the EA but in compliance with them.
“The site has been here since the late 19th century as Victorian brickworks, ash pit and council tip for the deposit of coal ash from domestic fires, up until the late 1950s.
“There has not been any pollution incident in Frickley Beck in those 100 years.
“The company samples the water regularly as part of the monitoring regime and has found no effect on Frickley Beck when taking water samples.
“Our employees have been working at the site for over 12 years and now fear for their jobs due to this escalation in action against the site on human health grounds when none of our employees have ever been affected.”