Vaughan Gething donation firm criticised for Withyhedge landfill smell

Those affected have been calling for tougher action to help "stop the stink"

The company at the centre of the Vaughan Gething donation controversy has been criticised for its management of a landfill site.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said there were "several serious permit breaches" and "poor management" at Withyhedge in Pembrokeshire.

People living near the site said it smells like a "stink bomb on steroids".

Resources Management UK Limited (RML), part of Dauson Environmental Group (DEG), said work was being carried out.

A public meeting was held last month, following reports of an eggy smell coming from the site, which is said to have started in October last year.

A protest was also held outside Pembrokeshire council's building in Haverfordwest last month.

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NRW said there was currently no definite timeline for when the odour would be removed.

DEG is owned by David John Neal, who was given a suspended sentence of three months in 2013 for illegally dumping waste, and a suspended sentence of 18 weeks in 2017 for not cleaning it up.

Wales' First Minister Mr Gething has faced mounting pressure for accepting £200,000 from DEG for his leadership campaign, but has defended his integrity and rejected calls from opponents for an investigation.

The site's operators are part of Dauson Environmental Group, which donated £200,000 to Vaughan Gething's Labour leadership election campaign

NRW said it was conducting weekly visits to the Withyhedge site and said RML and DEG "are showing willingness to comply".

It said the onus was on the operator to identify what waste goes into the landfill site and there was no independent way of monitoring waste.

Regular "sniff tests" are being carried out by NRW, with members of the team having received "odour assessment training".

The operators were issued with a Regulation 36 Notice under environmental law at the beginning of April to identify the odour coming from the site.

But NRW said the smell persisted after the deadline of 5 April, as new problems were identified in different areas of the site.

The new deadline RML must meet is 14 May, NRW said, adding it understood the community was "running out of patience".

Paul Davies, the MS for Preseli Pembrokeshire, has previously called for RML to have its licence revoked.

However, NRW said it was best to have an operator in place at the site.

RML said work was being carried out on an area of the site and would be completed by the 14 May deadline.

The company apologised and said it would co-operate with investigations carried out by the NRW.

"Recent observations indicate a notable reduction in landfill odours, both in occurrence and intensity," it said in a statement.

"We anticipate this trend to persist as we near completion of ongoing works, notwithstanding the presence of other odour sources in the vicinity," the statement read.

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