Launders Lane landfill owners threatened with legal action by Havering council.

Local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann today writes on the ongoing fires in Rainham.

Havering Council has threatened the owners of a former landfill with legal action if they do not do more to prevent further fires.

Arnolds Field, in Rainham, has caught fire more than 100 times in the past five years, sending acrid smoke towards nearby houses.

Residents in Launders Lane fear the smoke is causing sore throats and respiratory illnesses, among other ailments.

The field is currently covered with some 40,000 cubic metres of unregulated waste, which sits the equivalent of two storeys high. The council has declared it “contaminated land”.

Soil data analysis from November 2023 showed the land could contain asbestos, as well as plastic bags, crisp packets, bricks, cans, polystyrene and asphalt.

In its 20-year history, the land has also been used as an illegal weapons store and a cannabis farm.

The abatement notice was issued to landowner DMC (Essex) Ltd late last month, alongside a community protection warning.

But DMC has appealed against it, which means it will be suspended until it has been before the magistrates’ court. A date has not yet been set.

The company, which purchased the dormant land in 2017, said the council had not formally responded to its applications to remediate the land. It previously said the council was “blocking” its efforts to clean the land up and has left the land alone to “avoid antagonising the council and community”.

A spokesperson for DMC described the appeals process as necessary, with the council attempting to “conceal its responsibility,” but said the dispute would be a “further waste of time and money”.

The company will need to take “proactive steps” to minimise the risk of future blazes, as per the warning. That could include securing the site to prevent unauthorised access and possible arson, Havering Council says.

However, the company maintains that arson is not the cause and the fires are instead igniting underground as a result of “historic waste previously deposited prior to the landowners’ purchase”.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has also pointed to the volume of combustible rubbish at the landfill as the cause of the fires.

Paul McClenaghan, the LFB’s borough commander for Havering, said: “The fires are distressing for the local community and are putting firefighters at unnecessary risk.

“The reason the fires are happening regularly is due to the build-up of heat from rubbish dumped at the site over a long period of time.”

The service has been called out to Arnolds Field eight times this year. It responded to 64 fires in 2023, mostly during the hotter months.

Paul McClenaghan added: “Local communities deserve a long-term solution to the problem and we are part of a working group, alongside the council, local representatives and the Environment Agency, that seeks to resolve this long-running issue.

“We will continue to send crews to assess the fire and we will respond appropriately so firefighters can ensure the fire does not spread any further.”

The DMC spokesperson added that the situation had “simply been allowed to go on too long” and the fires, health concerns, and the “eyesore” appearance of the field was “unfair for the whole community”.

Havering will be assessing the site in August to check if DMC has “complied” with the warning, it says.

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