By Ruth Kettle-Frisby – Guest Writer and Community Activist
Ruth is passionate about fostering positive change within the local community and regularly contributes insights and stories to The Havering Daily.
Havering Council has finally indicated in its recent Cabinet report update on 17 September 2025 that further inaction regarding the Launders Lane fires is simply not an option.
Havering Council appear to recognise their responsibility:
- either by designating the land as contaminated under the Contaminated Land regime, which Clear the Air in Havering think they should do, given that the smoke has been identified as a plausible contamination pathway when we challenged its initial decision not to designate the land as contaminated at the High Court.
- or another abatement notice under the statutory nuisance regime – one that isn’t inexplicably retracted this time.
Havering Council intimate that these two routes to action are mutually exclusive, which may not necessarily the case.
However, Clear the Air in Havering are encouraged to see that Havering Council finally appear to recognise that they have a duty of care and candour to both Rainham residents and hard-working LFB firefighters, both of whom have suffered exponentially – both mentally and physically – all summer from the toxic smoke caused by an unrelenting tirade of fires.
Another crucial action that I again implore Havering Council to take, is to join so many others in passing a resolution of support for Zane’s Law, which would ensure robust regulation of contaminated land to protect the lives and health of children in Rainham and beyond, protecting their right to a sustainable environment.
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