Luton area plagued with flies and ‘rancid smell’ as residents blame waste depot

Kingsway Residence Association, a group affected by the depot’s activity, heard the council’s response to their petition calling for more to tackle the issues at a meeting last night (Thursday).

Shaun Askins, strategic waste manager at the council, said a new waste contract with Suez Recycling and Recovery UK had been signed on October 1.

Cllr Zahoor Ahmed, representing Round Green, asked Mr Askins what had been done to address the fly infestation in June 2024.

Mr Askins said: “We’ve traced that back to some works done on the weighbridge. The contractor at the time, FCC, lifted the weighbridge and had to remove a significant amount of silt build-up, in which, unfortunately, there were a lot of fly eggs and they became a swarm.

“They increased the number of deodorising and fly works on the site. But other than that we have had no reports of excessive amounts, or even flies above the normal.”

Pictures from June and July this year show flies covering sticky traps inside houses along Kingsway, Connaught Road, Portland Road and Dunraven Avenue.

Chairperson for the Kingsway Residence Association, Abeda Mirza, said: “On a normal day in summer, springtime, March onwards we can't open doors or windows. We can't walk in the kitchen with doors open. It's embarrassing to have guests around. We have these sticky things. For all of the residents in Kingsway, these sticky things are changed every 24 hours. Those flies are 24 hours worth of flies.

“We buy sprays. We buy the electrical racket things. We buy those sticky things. We have ill children, asthmatic children on Kingsway, and nothing is done. You ring the council and they practically laugh in your face.”

Cllr Ahmed asked what ways are the best for people to report fly or rodent infestations. Mr Askins explained: “If they've got a pest control query or general environmental query, we can do via the council's environmental representations, either phone calls, or directly by email.

“In terms of the site itself, this is part of why we proposed setting up the depot users group to meet on a regular basis, so if there are any regular patterns or occurrences either from the depot or surrounding factories and utilities, we can take them up and resolve them quickly.”

In his recommendations, Mr Askins mentioned that a user group for affected residents and depot stakeholders should be established to ensure that there is more communication and regular meetings to address these issues.

Adeba said: “We're in November now, and the smell is horrendous. 7.30am I'm going to drop my kids off, and the smell is awful. The traffic outside the depot is horrendous. No one cares.

“You wouldn't take it if it was on your street. So why are we having to live with this? It's absolutely horrendous.”

When asked about the potential to move the depot away from the residential area, Mr Askins said: “It houses quite a few council services. Any corporate decision for reclamation would have to look at that in the long term, in terms of finding a suitable site, funding that and then making that decision, getting planning, permitting.

"It is not only the waste transfer station, the main core of council frontline services are operated from the depot.”

Cllr Francis Steer said: “Really when you look at it, it is in the completely wrong place, in a residential area. And presumably it's grown up over the years. I sympathise with those people who live in the area and I really think the long-term solution is for the depot to move further out of the borough and not in such a densely populated area.”

Cllr Steve Stephens, Liberal Democrat councillor for the South ward, pressed the council on its reluctance to relocate the depot.

He said: “I requested a visit take place by the pest control team, which did go on to take place. I did get a response back from Gerard McCleave to say that FCC who operate the waste transfer station undertake a process of two to three per week to try to prevent and tackle the fly infestation.

“But he said that the council would work with FFCC further to undertake more frequent daily work. He said he would liaise with pest control colleagues about issues relating to vermin.

“Obviously these things have been continuing and in some ways, getting worse. I come back to the fact that I was shocked by the pictures I saw from the members of the association.”

He explained that pest control services had visited Kingsway, and met three residents, but “didn’t identify a significant amount of flies.”

Cllr Stephens added: “I understand there was a sign of doubt coming from the pest control team that there's any problems with rat infestation.

"We can’t dismiss these things, we’ve been too quick to dismiss something which is really having a big impact on residents in Kingsway and nearby on their daily lives.”

The Petitions and Representations Board agreed with Cllr Stephen’s updated recommendations, which included keeping the possibility of deposit relocation and redevelopment on the agenda to be discussed as part of future reviews.

Chair, Cllr Taylor, added: “We will do what we can and we’ve got a plan with the old representatives to meet on a very regular basis to try to resolve any particular issues to resolve them quickly and efficiently.”