Residents Fear Another Summer Of Smoke And Fires In Rainham

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.

In light of further delays projected recently by Havering Council (while it was led by the previous administration, Havering Residents Association), Mishcon de Reya has written to Havering Council on behalf of Clear the Air in Havering to remind the council of its legal obligations under Part 2A of the Environment Protection Act. 

The smoking illegal landfill site on Arnold’s Field, Launders Lane poses an unacceptable risk of significant harm to the health of children living in Rainham, and Havering Council must enforce its duties urgently.

Clear the Air in Havering took Havering Council to the High Court last year as a last resort. The judgment had an important impact, setting a legal precedent identifying the smoke from the fires coming from the illegal dump on Arnold’s Field, Launders Lane, as a plausible contamination pathway in such cases. 

Not only did Havering Council finally designate the land as contaminated, councillors pledged unanimously to support Zane’s Law, which will protect children from the devastating impacts of contaminated land across the country by ensuring statutory candour and accountability in what has become an environmental health crisis. 

The newly designated contaminated land status is important because it gives Havering Council and the Environment Agency specific legal duties to ensure the site is cleaned up.

Arnold’s Field is privately owned, and while ultimately the polluter – even by inheritance – should pay, the last thing the landlord should be doing is blocking progress designed to mitigate further harm until a more permanent solution is reached.

This should not be about private interest, but about the cost to people’s lives. The health of Rainham residents has been neglected for too long. They desperately deserve – and are legally entitled to – protection from the incoming onslaught of another summer of hell.

It’s disgraceful that Rainham residents and the local London Fire Brigade are being subjected to further delays when we know more fires are imminent as soon as the weather becomes drier and warmer.

Given that the land has now been designated as contaminated, accordingly, under its new Reform administration, Havering Council has obligations and powers under law to force its clean up. 

Havering Council and the landowner must pursue remediation on site to prevent another summer of fires being inflicted on the local community.

It’s incumbent on Havering Council to enact these legal duties and issue a remediation notice without further delay.

Ruth Kettle-Frisby, 

Clear the Air in Havering 

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.