Gething says donor's landfill stench is unacceptable

Vaughan Gething has come under pressure in the Senedd over how his leadership campaign was funded

Vaughan Gething says that the stench from a landfill site owned by the largest donor to his leadership campaign is unacceptable.

In the Senedd on Tuesday Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies called for the Withyhedge site in Pembrokeshire to be closed.

It is owned by Dauson Environmental Group, which gave the first minister £200,000 for his successful bid for the Welsh Labour leadership.

Mr Gething was accused of a conflict of interest, but the first minister said neither he or any member of the government has tried to influence Natural Resources Wales's (NRW) actions against the operator.

NRW has described "several serious permit breaches" and "poor management" at the landfill near Haverfordwest.

People have been complaining about foul smells from the facility since last October.

The organisation, which policies environmental regulation in Wales, has given the operator until Tuesday to make improvements.

RML, the Dauson subsidiary which operates Withyhedge, said it will meet the deadline.

Vaughan Gething has faced repeated questioning in the Senedd since he became first minister over the money given to him by Dauson, owned by a man twice convicted of environmental offence.

He has maintained throughout that he has broken no rules, has fully declared the donations and cannot take decisions relating to the organisation, which runs a number of waste, recycling and demolition businesses.

In the Senedd on Tuesday Mr Davies accused Mr Gething, in his response to the Welsh Tory's questions about Withyhedge, of failing to verbally declare the cash given to him.

Mr Gething said there had been no dishonesty from him about the donations, which he said had been declared publicly.

The Cardiff South and Penarth MS had asked NRW to ease restrictions on a separate part of Dauson - Atlantic Recycling - in 2016.

When the correspondence came to light, he said it was "routine practice" for elected politicians to correspond with public bodies on constituency issues.

Mr Davies said the residents around the landfill site "are really having a nightmare of a situation inflicted on them".

"The smells, the odours, are unbearable for residents in this part of west Wales," he told the Welsh Parliament.

He referred to a recent newsletter from Natural Resources Wales which reissued advice from Public Health Wales, originally issued in March, that "odours and emissions from this site may be harmful to health".

Mr Gething said it was "important that improvement action is taken to resolve the issue".

"My understanding is that NRW are taking action to both monitor and to require improvement, and the key point here is that the operator meets those requirements."

Mr Davies claimed he had spoken to one individual who said that the smell was so strong at 06:30 in the morning that it caused him to vomit.

He said he was sure that Mr Gething would want to put on the record that the first minister had a "conflict of interest".

Mr Gething said he had not taken "any action in this instance" and that he was unaware of a "single member of the government has attempted to influence the action of NRW".

"I wouldn't expect any community to simply tolerate what is happening - that's why action needs to be taken," he said.

Residents have protested against the smell at Withyhedge

'No declaration'

"No declaration, first minister. Any other member would have to make that declaration," Mr Davies said.

"I hope you will make that declaration, because that's going to the core of what many people in the locality perceive as influence and making sure that things aren't remediated as quickly as possible.

"That tip needs to shut. It has been run very badly," he added.

Mr Gething said denied any "lack of clarity" or lack of "honesty". He said his "public record" had been updated regarding Dauson.

He said that does not prevent him "from setting out that the government's position is that the issue needs to be resolved properly in accordance with the requirements of the regulator and, of course, as soon as possible".

"It would not be acceptable in any community in the country for the issue not to be resolved, whether it's in my constituency or a different part of the country."

He said if the regulator wanted to talk to the government "they can, of course, speak to the cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs", Huw Irranca-Davies.

If they came to him, "I would have to tell them that I cannot undertake any action in this matter", he added.

The recent newsletter from NRW said the operator RML Ltd, which is owned by Dauson, had announced it would cease accepting waste at the landfill site temporarily after Tuesday.

NRW said the decision was taken voluntarily by the operator and did not have an impact on its enforcement notice deadline.

In a statement RML Ltd said it is "due to complete the planned works in alignment with the deadline of the current notice.

"We will not be in a position to provide any further update until after NRW has completed its compliance assessment and report.”