Havering Council In The Process Of Making New Determination On Launders Lane Land.

Havering Council says dealing with a perennially burning rubbish dump is still a priority despite the apparent slow progress, writes local democracy reporter Sebastian Mann.

Arnolds Field, in Rainham, has caught fire more than 100 times since 2019. Residents around Launders Lane have reported stinging eyes and coughing, which they attribute to the acrid smoke blowing into their homes.

In June, the High Court ruled the council had acted prematurely by not categorising the site, used as an illegal dump between 2002 and 2014, as legally contaminated.

The court found council officers had relied on incomplete data and misunderstood legal definitions around contamination by “wrongly believing” toxic smoke did not qualify.

Andrew Blake-Herbert, the chief executive of the council, told cabinet members at a meeting last week the town hall was “in the process of making a new determination on the land”.

He said the council “absolutely recognised the circumstances that local people are living in” but it was proving a “complicated process”. The final decision will run longer than a thousand pages in length, he added, and was “absolutely a priority”.

During the meeting, top councillors were told by a member of the public they needed assurances “you’re going to take it seriously now”.

Ruth Kettle-Frisby, one of three local mothers behind Clean the Air Havering, previously said the ruling “confirmed what we’ve been saying for years, that this site poses a real danger,” and would “force the council to act”.

Any “substantial” works to stop the blazes could take between three and seven years to realise, according to a report published last week. The council may be able to reach a temporary solution within six months to a year but no timeline has been published.

Labour councillor Keith Darvill said it was “still not clear” what would happen next and called the situation “disappointing”. He acknowledged it was complicated, but said it was not being treated with the appropriate sense of urgency.

Deputy leader Gillian Ford, with the Havering Residents Association, said in response that “you cannot speed up due process”.

Following the High Court ruling, councillors agreed to produce a report largely detailing the history of the site, which went before cabinet members last week.

Officers say the council is also exploring ways to improve security on the land and to prevent oxygen reaching underground waste, in a bid to reduce the frequency of the fires.

It has so far cost Havering £949,000. The town hall now estimates it will cost a further £604,000 in 2025/26, but Blake-Herbert said finances were “not a part of the decision” as the cost of remedying the issue will ultimately lie with the landowner.

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