Residents of a new build housing estate opposite a massive landfill say they were ‘deceived’ over how much it stinks of ‘poo’ and claim they were sold an expensive lie.
In the past year, more than 1,000 complaints have been made to the Environment Agency about the pong, which sprays from gas outlet pipes and wafts over residents of Newton Leys, in Bletchley, Bedfordshire, up to ‘four times a week’.
Those on the 750-home Taylor Wimpey estate, where properties sell for up to £600,000, say the ‘unbearable’ smell, described as ‘rotten, poo-ish’ by one resident, leaves them fearing for their health and regretting buying their properties.
‘The stench is unbearable, we can smell it indoors even with the windows closed’, says Jeffrey Ekuful, who bought his four bedroom home five years ago for £375,000.
The father-of-three, whose property sits 200 yards from the landfill, added: ‘When the weather gets cold, for some reason it gets very, very smelly… Decomposed, rotten, poo-ish.
‘My wife is literally scared of what impact this could be having on our health long term. It gets so smelly the kids wake up and say ‘daddy is it ok to be sleeping?’. I happen to be one of the serial reporters [of the smell].
‘We knew about the landfill but we were given the impression that it doesn’t smell. Every time we visited it was ok, it was around summer, we moved in in winter. The first few months, we didn’t notice it at all.
‘They were going to close it in two years’ time, we were of the opinion it would eventually close. The Taylor Wimpey estate agent said it was closing, it wouldn’t exist in two years time.
In the past year, more than 1,000 complaints have been made to the Environment Agency about the pong, which sprays from gas outlet pipes and wafts over residents of Newton Leys, in Bletchley, Bedfordshire, (pictured right) up to ‘four times a week’
Those on the 750-home Taylor Wimpey estate, where properties sell for up to £600,000, say the ‘unbearable’ smell, described as ‘rotten, poo-ish’ by one resident, leaves them fearing for their health and regretting buying their properties
The site opened in 1990 in a clay pit that was part of the former Newton Longville brickworks
A huge waste lorry can be seen emptying its load into the huge piles of trash just across from the homes
‘I feel deceived to be honest with you, disappointed, based on the fact the extension was granted, at least if there was a possibility of extension it would have been nice that they communicated that. It would have been part of our decision whether we bought the house or not.
‘We regret buying, 100 percent. This has served us a lesson, you have to be very, very careful where you are buying.’
The first buyers moved onto Newton Leys in 2007 and residents say the build quality of their homes is top notch.
The estate was originally set back from the landfill but additional homes have since been built along the edge of the site with only a large brow of soil, which regularly changes height, to block the view of the 720,000 square metre landfill.
The site opened in 1990 in a clay pit that was part of the former Newton Longville brickworks. It receives around 300,000 tonnes of waste a year, is around one kilometre across and is operated by Northamptonshire-based FCC Environment (UK) Limited.
Milton Keynes Council rejected a planning application to renew the site’s operating licence ‘due to the impact on local residents’ but in 2021 the landfill’s operators appealed the decision and won, meaning the site will stay open until 2037.
The decision devastated homeowners on the estate, many of whom had hoped the landfill would be discontinued – a claim allegedly made by Taylor Wimpey’s estate agents – and turned into a nature reserve.
When MailOnline visited, dozens of lorries were dumping huge truckloads into the vast garbage canyon as gas outlet pipes continuously billowed out excrement-smelling white vapour into the air.
The estate was originally set back from the landfill but additional homes have since been built along the edge of the site
Tracey Boyce liked the design of her house and the quiet street it was on, so snapped up her semi-detached property in July 2020 for £345,000. The home sits about 200 feet from the edge of the landfill site
Many of the home-owners had hoped the landfill would be discontinued – a claim allegedly made by Taylor Wimpey’s estate agents – and turned into a nature reserve
It receives around 300,000 tonnes of waste a year, is around one kilometre across and is operated by Northamptonshire-based FCC Environment (UK) Limited
Ammonia and hydrogen sulphide are usually responsible for unpleasant smells from landfills. The gases are a by-product of degrading waste buried deep underground.
One lorry driver revealed he had driven 41 miles from Watford to dump around 45 tonnes of waste at the site and is one of dozens of truckers an hour delivering trash from outside the area – an issue which has enraged campaigners who say a tiny percentage of the waste in the landfill is from the Milton Keynes area, ranked the third most eco-conscious city in the UK last year.
Tracey Boyce liked the design of her house and the quiet street it was on, so snapped up her semi-detached property in July 2020 for £345,000. The home sits about 200 feet from the edge of the landfill site.
But she says developers Taylor Wimpey kept her family in the dark over the landfill’s smell, as well as plans to extend the estate with social housing.
She said: ‘Sometimes the smell gets in the house if you have a window open, in the summer you can’t sit in the garden because it’s so bad.
‘I come out first thing in the morning and the whole air reeks of it, it does make me feel a bit sick. It’s regular enough for it to be a problem, you come out and think ‘arghh the landfill stinks again’.
‘Everyone on the community Facebook page says to ring the Environment Agency but you just give up in the end because they don’t do anything.
‘In hindsight I would’ve thought twice about buying this plot. No way were we ever really told how bad that was.
There is only a large brow of soil, which regularly changes height, to block the view of the 720,000 square metre landfill
Milton Keynes Council rejected a planning application to renew the site’s operating licence ‘due to the impact on local residents’ but in 2021 the landfill’s operators appealed the decision and won, meaning the site will stay open until 2037
‘They’ve added hundreds and hundreds [of homes]. The whole thing has changed to what we thought it was going to be.’
The sense of deceit is a sentiment echoed by Cabinet Office senior civil servant Ugo Onu.
The 41-year-old paid a whopping £590,000 for his five bed detached ‘forever home’ on the estate 16 months ago but now finds himself suffering ‘headaches’, unable to use his outdoor space and is desperate to move.
He said: ‘This is people’s life saving investment, our property prices are devalued by the day. This is reckless.
‘Within three months we had to call the real estate agent, we said can we sell and move. The guy said it’ll cost you £50,000-£60,000.’
Claire, who lives near the entrance to the estate where the smell is evidently worse, says the smell has ‘stopped me going out’ in the two years she has lived there, another resident who overlooks the landfill said she could smell the stench ‘four times a week’ in October.
In an unusual twist of fate, many of those residents living closest to the landfill’s boundary along Burgh Drive say they have escaped the whiff – in part because of strong winds blowing the smell away from their exposed road.
It means those living further inside the estate often deal with the worst of the stench and some are even trying to move closer to the landfill as a result, Ollie Vaughan says.
Personal trainer Mikee Carrara, who runs Five Star Fitness in Milton Keynes, has lived in three houses on the estate and is the first to admit he has made ‘a lot of money’ from buying and selling the properties
When MailOnline visited this week, dozens of lorries were dumping huge truckloads into the vast garbage canyon as gas outlet pipes continuously billowed out excrement-smelling white vapour into the air
The 26-year-old finance worker owns a home just 30 feet from the edge of the landfill site but admits it doesn’t bother him in the slightest.
He explained: ‘I’d say we have had seven or eight days of smelling the landfill, further into the estate you can definitely smell it more. I believe it is due to wind.
‘We’ve been here a year, first when we were looking for the house, yes, it was a bit of an issue.
‘In regards to noise, smell, it is minimal, very minimal. You don’t hear it in your house.
‘A lot of people that bought at the very front of the estate were selling to move to the back of the estate, closer to the landfill.’
He is one of many residents on Newton Leys who feel the smell issue is not as big a deal as some residents make it out to be.
Personal trainer Mikee Carrara, who runs Five Star Fitness in Milton Keynes, has lived in three houses on the estate and is the first to admit he has made ‘a lot of money’ from buying and selling the properties.
He believes those complaining about the smell are somewhat misguided.
Stacey Price, 44, was placed in her housing association home in August and admitted she had no idea it was directly next to the landfill until she arrived
One lorry driver revealed he had driven 41 miles from Watford to dump around 45 tonnes of waste at the site and is one of dozens of truckers an hour delivering trash from outside the area
Mikee told MailOnline: ‘We first bought on Sumatra Crescent for £190,000, we sold that for £325,000.
‘We paid £440,000 for our five bed detached five years ago and sold that for £525,000. These are lovely houses.
‘At the end of the day, if you’re buying a house, you check everything. If your house can’t sell it is easy to blame it on something external, because they have no control over it.
‘I’m a PT, anything health wise is what we are concerned about but I don’t really see that. Yes you can smell, it’s a bad smell, it’s tolerable, they can sort out the smell.’
Another resident who has been in her home 13 months admits that despite a fly plague this summer – which saw her sticky traps catch 200-a-day – and the occasional whiffy few hours, she is delighted with her home.
‘If anything it [the landfill] made it cheaper so it made it easier for us to get a bigger house’, the mum, who lives directly next to the landfill, said.
Stacey Price, 44, was placed in her housing association home in August and admitted she had no idea it was directly next to the landfill until she arrived.
Despite being blown away with the home she noticed the smell as soon as she moved in, but says she has it easier than others on the estate, adding: ‘When you come out the front you can smell it quite a lot. It’s a bit of a put off but out the back, no problem at all.
‘We live in an open bit, the wind is constantly blowing so it doesn’t really linger and smell. I’m fine with living here, it’s a nice area.’
A spokesperson from Milton Keynes Council told MailOnline: ‘We refused the planning application that allowed the extension of the site’s operation.
‘However, this decision was appealed and planning permission granted by the government appointed planning inspector in 2021.
‘Details of how to report complaints about odour emanating from the landfill site are on our website and should be submitted to the Environment Agency, as it operates under an environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency.’
An Environment Agency spokesperson added: “We understand the impact odours can have on local communities and we are taking the necessary, robust action to resolve the issues.
‘We are monitoring the situation very closely in Bletchley, including regular inspections and odour checks, and will ensure the landfill site put appropriate mitigations in place.’
FCC Environment called the site ‘strategically important’, adding that landfoll remains ‘the only viable disposal option’.
A spokesperson said: ‘Every site we operate is permitted by the Environment Agency and we work in tandem with our regulator to deliver our services professionally, safely and within each sites’ permit.
‘Our Bletchley Landfill site has been operational since the 1970s providing a regulated means of disposal for society’s waste and since opening we have worked closely with our neighbours through the Community Liaison Group, we issue community updates and have an open door policy to explain what we do on site and why we have to do it.
‘In recent years the number of residents we reach out to has expanded to include the residents of the Newton Leys estate which was consented by Milton Keynes Council to be built immediately adjacent to the existing operational landfill in full knowledge that it was an operational landfill site. This remains the case to this day.
‘We are aware of the recent concerns expressed by residents and we would like to reassure them that we are working closely with the regulator to address these concerns. We are providing regular updates to residents and the Environment Agency.
‘We remain committed to and are working hard at ensuring this site continues to operate within the terms of our permit.’
Taylor Wimpey were approached for comment.