There have been no fresh complaints about landfill odours at the contentious Withyhedge landfill site near Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire councillors heard.

An Incident Management Team (IMT), comprising of Natural Resources Wales, Pembrokeshire County Council, Public Health Wales and Hywel Dda University Health Board was set up in February 2024 in response to complaints going back to October 2023 about the odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill.

The landfill closed temporarily in May last year, reopening on January 6 when all compliance required by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) was said to be complete.

An update of the situation was received at the September meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s services overview and scrutiny committee

The matter of ongoing community concerns related to activities arising from the Withyhedge Landfill site, specifically odour and air quality impacts on health is currently a standing item on the agenda for the committee following a decision at full council.

A report for members said: “Air quality monitoring of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) levels continue at the static monitoring station located at Spittal School. We are sent weekly monitoring reports from the station which enable us to monitor the odour exceedances which if found to be attributable to the site will allow interventions and request for explanations of issues and potentially would also allow us to consider standing up the multi-agency incident arrangements again. This monitoring is set to continue until April 2026.”

It added: “Assessment of the weekly reports shows that there have been only isolated incidents where this odour threshold has been exceeded on July 14 and 15. Due to wind direction it is believed these are from other potential odour sources in the area.

“We would view this as positive as this clearly indicates that the monitor is working but that even with other potential sources in the area the overall background level of H2S is low. We have not received any further complaints concerning landfill odours since the last update earlier this year in June.”

It also said an application to vary the permit at Withyhedge Landfill is currently being determined by NRW. Further consultation will take place once a draft decision has been completed.

Members agreed to note the content of the report, and the continued low levels of H2S being monitored at the station and that there have been no complaints since the last update.

Last October, Pembrokeshire County Council went to court to seek an interim injunction against operators RML after asking it to give a legally binding undertaking to stop the odour coming from Withyhedge Landfill, near Haverfordwest.

The legal action came after months of residents complaining of foul odours and potentially harmful gasses coming from the landfill site.

A circuit judge found that the tip was causing nuisance, but believed that the council had gone about its application in the wrong way, refusing to grant an interim injunction.