Lessons learned after four-month fire - councillor

Fire crews spent four months tackling the blaze

A senior Rotherham councillor said "lessons had been learned" after an industrial waste fire sent smoke into the air for nearly four months.

The blaze broke out at a waste store in the South Yorkshire village of Kiveton Park on 8 September 2022.

It was only fully extinguished in January.

Responding to criticism of the authority's communication with the public over the matter, Councillor David Sheppard said it always sought to "see what we can do better".

'Legal and moral obligation'

In June, Rotherham Council served an enforcement notice, which said there had been “unauthorised” waste deposited on the site at the Kiveton Park Industrial Estate.

Residents also raised concerns about the health impact of the smoke.

Liberal Democrat councillor Drew Tarmey told a full council meeting on Wednesday that the blaze had "highlighted the need for better communication" between the council and residents in emergency situations.

He said council officers "have a tendency to tweet about things, rather than get in direct contact with the public and elected members straight away", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Sheppard, the authority's cabinet member for social inclusion and environment, said: "After any major incident the council and our partners always seek to learn lessons and see what we can do better.

“I do think lessons have been learned.

"The immediate focus of the council was fulfilling its legal and moral obligation to warn and inform the people who were in danger."

He said the council had provided a number of updates and that communication had been "rightly targeted at the residents who need it most".

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