Mysterious smell gets up noses of North Swindon residents
9:00am Thursday 7th March 2013 in Latest News By David Wiles
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Resident Peter Goodfellow and Coun Emma Faramarzi
A MYSTERY pong is causing concern for people living in North Swindon.
The Environment Agency and Swindon Council’s environmental health team are working to identify the smell, which has been noticed by residents for the last two to three weeks, mainly in the Oakhurst, Taw Hill and Redhouse areas.
Coun Emma Faramarzi, North Swindon Locality chairman, said: “It could be something like the farmers putting slurry on the fields, but people aren’t stupid and they know the difference when something is natural or not.
“It’s a complete mystery. It’s a mystery to us and the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency have now asked Swindon Council environmental health to come out and investigate as well – it’s a real team effort.
“All I have been doing for this last week is fielding these calls and emails about it from residents.”
Coun Faramarzi said there had been about 100 complaints about the smell on the Priory Vale Facebook page and the Priory Vale Residents’ Association Facebook Page, with people saying they notice it at weekends and overnight.
“Some people are saying it’s like sewage, some people are saying it’s gassy and really strongly sulphury – that’s how they’re describing it to us,” she said.
Coun Faramarzi has opened up a case with the Environment Agency, which she said had investigated the Hills Waste Solutions site, at Chapel Farm, Blunsdon, as a possible source, but officials had not found any evidence it came from there.
She said: “What the Environment Agency have asked me to do is just collect all the comments and keep sending them in.
“What we’re advised is to tell people to keep reporting it over and over and over again because the more they report it the more of a picture the officers can get to try and work out what it is.”
Peter Goodfellow, of Redhouse, said that he had been noticing the smell for months, but it has become more noticeable in the last few weeks.
He said: “It has been going on for a couple of weeks now, it is a pretty pungent smell and is periodic, so it is not there all the time.
“There have been suggestions it is from the farms, but it is not that kind of smell, it is a strong methane and sulphuric smell.
“Emma Faramarzi is in contact with residents and the environment agency and I think residents would just like to know what it is.
“It is not a nice smell and there have been reports of the smell in other parts of Swindon.”
In a letter to Coun Faramarzi, the EA said: “In order to try and get a bigger picture last week, we spoke to the Environmental Health Officer at Swindon Council. She is going to raise the problem across the Environmental Health team and get back to us.
“If residents have any local knowledge of things taking place at local farms, development sites or industrial units etc that might be relevant I am sure we would like to hear.”
A council spokesman said: “The Council’s Environmental Enforcement Team have received a small number of complaints about this over the last couple of weeks. They have ranged from a ‘sewage’ smell, through ‘petrol-like’ and ‘sulphurous’, to ‘burning rubber’.
“Members of the team have been out trying to identify the odour and track down its source, without success so far.
“Visits have been made to a fuel depot, and a private sewage installation, and these have been excluded from the investigation.
“Any members of the public with information on the source of the odour should call the Environmental Enforcement Team via the Council’s contact centre on 01793 445500 or the Environment Agency.”
Comments(21)
whaddahey?!
says...
9:36am Thu 7 Mar 13
Morsey
says...
10:19am Thu 7 Mar 13
Bobby Wright
says...
10:52am Thu 7 Mar 13
Street1234
says...
11:17am Thu 7 Mar 13
I did plan on calling the council to see if they could come out and clean the drains. (but that would mean they would need to leave their office and do some real work)
I wounder if the drains are working how they should or is there a blockage or something.
Does anyone know if anyone has
checked the drains at all??
Oak_Parent
says...
11:28am Thu 7 Mar 13
James Smith Bowser
says...
12:25pm Thu 7 Mar 13
phat_phish
says...
1:08pm Thu 7 Mar 13
I'm in Redhouse and, like Tadpoler, I've noticed it is worse on cold, clear nights. It definitely smells like sulphur or sewage.
The article asks for people to keep reporting it, but who are we supposed to report it to and how?
Brenda21157
says...
2:19pm Thu 7 Mar 13
peatmoor pirate
says...
4:03pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Street1234 wrote:Why don't you ring them instead of taling rubbish about their working methods which you clearly don't have a clue about
I live in Oakhurst and the drain outside our house smell's so bad, it makes the whole house smell inside.
I did plan on calling the council to see if they could come out and clean the drains. (but that would mean they would need to leave their office and do some real work)
I wounder if the drains are working how they should or is there a blockage or something.
Does anyone know if anyone has
checked the drains at all??
Always Grumpy
says...
5:29pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Brenda21157 wrote:Or not a connection if it's blocked!
I live at Taw Hill and I've smelt it there too. My downstairs toilet has just become blocked maybe there's a connection.
MrAngry
says...
8:33pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Street1234 wrote:Sewers are Thames Water's responsibility not the council's.
I live in Oakhurst and the drain outside our house smell's so bad, it makes the whole house smell inside.
I did plan on calling the council to see if they could come out and clean the drains. (but that would mean they would need to leave their office and do some real work)
I wounder if the drains are working how they should or is there a blockage or something.
Does anyone know if anyone has
checked the drains at all??
Blackmalkin
says...
8:56pm Thu 7 Mar 13
pats43
says...
10:58pm Thu 7 Mar 13
I wonder if its down to when work was done to the bridge/river a few months back. Or down to the flooded fields because the ditches Tadpole lane were blocked. Could it be stagnant water?
pats43
says...
11:06pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Simples!
says...
11:20pm Thu 7 Mar 13
pats43
says...
11:30pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Wet Weather or Cold Weather Sewage or Septic Odors:
http://inspectapedia
.com/septic/SewerOdo
rs.htm
Could it be a possibility? A
strain on the sewage system. We notice sometimes our toilets have sewage smells come up as though they have not been flushed when it fact they have.
TinkeyWinkey
says...
8:32am Fri 8 Mar 13
As for the possibility of it being sewers, ring Thames Water as that's their responsibility despite them trying to fob people off saying it's the Council. I've had them trying to pass the buck on that one
Street1234
says...
9:20am Fri 8 Mar 13
Why don't you ring them instead of taling rubbish about their working methods which you clearly don't have a clue about"
And what makes you think I know nothing about the council?
Do you know who I am ?
Do you know how many times I have spoken to them?
Every experience I have had with the council has been rubbish.
But how would you know that?
Why don't you put a useful comment that will help, just like MrAngry.
"MrAngry says...
8:33pm Thu 7 Mar 13
Sewers are Thames Water's responsibility not the council's."
Thank you for your useful comment, I will give Thames water a call now. I wasn't 100% sure who to call .
Thank You
Swindon_Local
says...
12:51am Sun 10 Mar 13
The smell started around late August/early September... after all that rain which raised the water table so high (and kept it high until recently) In recent weeks, the smell has calmed around those petrol stations but has started to become more noticeable around Oakhurst.
Good luck to anyone who buys in the new Chapel Farm housing estate!
msw
says...
10:15pm Wed 13 Mar 13
Tadpoler says...
9:17am Thu 7 Mar 13