A PEMBROKESHIRE man must remove abandoned cars, scrap and other waste from his land within weeks or face a potential prison sentence following Pembrokeshire County Council court action.

John Goruffydd Arthur Haffield of Fron Haul, Clynderwen, has until May 9th 2024 to clear land east of Gower Villa Lane, Clynderwen after District Judge Pratt granted an injunction to the Council.

The Council sought the injunction after Mr Haffield failed to take action to clear the land following a Council Enforcement Notice issued in 2018.

Mr Haffield pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the Enforcement Notice in March 2021 but there remained no effort to clear the land.

If Mr Haffield does not comply with the injunction he will be guilty of contempt of court and face a potential prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine.

Concerns about the state of the land at Gower Villa Lane date back to 2017 when complaints were received by the Council’s Planning department.

Visits to site discovered a static caravan, abandoned vehicles, machinery, trailers, white goods and significant general waste.

The Council wrote to Mr Haffield asking that the land be cleared within 28 days.

Further letters followed before Mr Haffield finally responded in January 2018, claiming that he intended to clear the site by that August.

When that work was not undertaken the Enforcement Notice was issued.

Mr Haffield initially appealed but failure to communicate with the Planning Inspectorate saw the appeal closed and the prosecution for failing to comply proceed.

Mr Haffield was fined £500 and ordered to pay £550 in costs and surcharge.

At the County Court earlier this month, District Judge Pratt said Mr Haffield had a lack of understanding of the seriousness of the proceedings.

The Council was awarded costs of £1,132.The injunction requires the removal all un-roadworthy vehicles, articulated box trailer, static caravan, various tanks, tyres, piping, baths, patio heater, machinery, white goods, scrap metals, plastics, timber and all other waste materials by May 9.

All of the above must be disposed of at an authorised location.

Council Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, Cllr Jon Harvey, said: “I welcome the decision to grant the injunction in this case and thank the Planning Enforcement and Legal Teams for their work
“It is a shame that this situation has got to a point where the Council has had no option but to take this course of action.
“This case is a prime example of what happens if you do not engage with planning colleagues or ignore enforcement notices. The problem will not go away.”

THE Port of Milford Haven has announced that Anna Malloy has been appointed as its first Communications and Marketing Director.

Anna is appointed to the Senior Management Team and this new role will be pivotal to the delivery of the Port’s long-term growth and diversification agenda and in ensuring that its obligations to coastal communities, future generations and to nature are honoured.

Tom Sawyer, CEO of the Port of Milford Haven, congratulated Anna and said: “Anna has a key role to play in our future and it’s doubly lovely to see ‘port-grown-talent’ flourish and for colleagues to progress up through our organisation.”

Anna will lead across the public affairs, marketing, sustainability, media relations, and community relations activities. She will therefore play a central role in the development of new and existing partnerships, including the Celtic Freeport, the Milford Haven Energy Cluster and the Celtic Collection; sitting alongside the delivery of major projects like Milford Waterfront and the Pembroke Dock Renewables Terminal.

“This is such an exciting opportunity. I am proud to be joining the Senior Management Team and look forward to delivering our ambitious strategy,” commented Anna Malloy, Communications and Marketing Director.

She added: “The Port of Milford Haven is playing a key role in the transition of South-West Wales’ economy to a decarbonised future. A beautiful place, with great people, that I am privileged to call my home.”

THE first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).  

NRW issued site operator Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with a further Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice on Thursday 18 April.

This outlined a series of actions to be completed by specified deadlines to address the ongoing odour and landfill gas emission issues at the site.

During the latest site inspection which took place yesterday (Thursday 25 April), NRW was able to confirm that three actions have been completed – two ahead of the imposed deadlines.

The operator has installed 24 pin wells, which have been driven into the waste in the lower section of the cell identified as causing the odour issues (Cell 8). These have also been connected to the landfill gas extraction system.

Capping material has been placed over the same area of the cell and welded to the basal liner to encapsulate gas in this area, allowing for extraction by the pin wells and four horizontal gas wells, which were previously installed.

While progress is being made, NRW officers detected strong landfill gas odours during an offsite assessment on Wednesday (24 April) in Poyston Cross and Crundale. Weather conditions this week appear to have led to a wider spread of landfill gas to surrounding areas, not solely linked to wind direction.

NRW odour assessments follow a set route around the landfill, with designated survey spots, identified to enable consistency of assessment and reporting. This is essential to ensure the regulatory and enforcement responses where there is offsite odour attributed to the landfill is robust. 

The remaining Regulation 36 Notice actions will require significant effort by RML to ensure they are completed on time and NRW continues to closely monitor progress.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive of NRW, met with representatives from NRW’s South West Industry Regulation Team and Pembrokeshire County Council during a visit to Pembrokeshire on Thursday 25 April.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive, Natural Resources Wales, said:  “While visiting the area surrounding Withyhedge Landfill with our regulatory team and partners from Pembrokeshire County Council this week, I was able to see and hear for myself just what people living and working in these communities have had to endure as a result of the odour issues from the site.

“What they have been experiencing is unacceptable and our officers have been working tirelessly alongside colleagues at Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator gets this under control as quickly as possible. While it was clear that a lot of work has been done on site, there is still more to do to ensure they address all the actions set out in the enforcement notice.

“We want to make sure that happens, and are exploring every option together with Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator works quickly to resolve the issues which are clearly affecting the quality of life of people in these communities.”

Huwel Manley, Head of South West Operations, said: “While we are reassured that action is being carried out by the operators at Withyhedge Landfill with a sense of urgency, we are continuing our regulatory presence on site to ensure the operator’s focus remains on tackling the issues that will address the continuing odour issues being experienced by surrounding communities.

“We will be closely monitoring progress over the coming days and weeks to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May. If they are not met, we will pursue additional enforcement action where appropriate.”

NRW requests that instances of odour from the landfill continue to be reported via this dedicated form: https://bit.ly/reportasmellwithyhedge or by calling 0300 065 3000.

Please report odours at the time of them being experienced, rather than historically. Reporting odours in a timely manner will help guide the work of partners more effectively, particularly in the further development of air quality monitoring.