“There May Be Two Or Three More Years Of Fires”: Havering Cabinet warned over Launders Lane.

13th August 202613th August 2026 Francesca Lilleystone 0 Comments Fires, Havering Council, Launders Lane, Rainham min read

Havering’s Cabinet has been warned that residents living near Launders Lane may face another two or three years of fires, smoke and harm to health if the Council is forced down the legal route to carry out remediation works itself.

At the Cabinet meeting on 12 August, the Reform administration considered the latest report on Arnold’s Field, the privately owned landfill site at Launders Lane which has repeatedly affected residents in Rainham with smoke, fumes and fires over a number of years.

Council Leader Keith Prince told the meeting there would be “no more pussyfooting” over Launders Lane. However, Cabinet was also told that the quickest route to stopping the fires depended on the cooperation of the landowner, something which has repeatedly frustrated attempts to resolve the issue. The Council’s latest position is that it will continue preparing a Remediation Notice and, if necessary, consider using step-in powers to carry out works in default. But Cabinet was also told that if the legal route has to be followed through appeals, enforcement and non-compliance, residents could still face another two or three years of fire and smoke before works are carried out.

Beam Park Labour Councillor Matthew Stanton challenged Cabinet on whether the Council was treating Launders Lane only as a contaminated land issue, or also as a long-term public health issue for the affected community.

Cllr Stanton said after the meeting:

“Stopping the fires is undoubtedly the right priority, but even if they stopped tomorrow, residents have already had years of smoke, particles and pollutants in the air around their homes.

“There is no magic reset button for the damage and anxiety people have already experienced. Launders Lane is not just a land remediation problem. It is a public health issue, a public confidence issue, and a long-term community impact issue.

“If the Council is planning the legal and technical route to remediation, it also needs to plan just as seriously for health monitoring, public reassurance and support for residents who have lived with this for years.”

The Council’s Chief Executive confirmed that the commitment made before the local elections to undertake health monitoring remains in place. Cabinet was also told that the Council has been in contact with Queen Mary University of London in relation to a health monitoring study organised through Margaret Mullane MP.

Cllr Stanton welcomed that confirmation but said residents would need clear information about what monitoring will take place, how they will be involved, and how the findings will be reported back to the community.

He added:

“The Council is right to pursue the landowner and those responsible, but residents cannot be left waiting years for the legal process to play out while public health concerns sit in the background.

“If the formal route takes two or three more years, residents need to know what protection, monitoring and support exists in the meantime.”

Cabinet also considered a separate report approving approximately £8.4 million of block contracts for Alternative Provision for children who have been permanently excluded, are unable to access mainstream education, or require urgent intervention to prevent permanent exclusion. The contracts will cover 166 places per year across three providers and will be funded from the Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block.

Cllr Stanton questioned how the Council would judge whether Alternative Provision was successfully preventing exclusions, rather than simply expanding capacity to deal with rising exclusion risk. He noted that permanent exclusions in Havering had risen from 21 in 2022/23 to 35 in 2024/25, despite pupil numbers remaining broadly stable.

Cabinet Member for Children, Cllr Kevin Gill, responded that exclusions “will be reduced”.

Cllr Stanton said the statement amounted to a clear commitment from the administration and would provide a benchmark against which progress could be measured.

“That is now a clear commitment from the administration. If Alternative Provision is being presented not only as a safety net after exclusion, but also as a preventative intervention, then the Council must be able to show that it is changing the trajectory.”

When asked what criteria would determine whether the contracts should be extended for a further year, the Cabinet Member said he had not yet explored that question. Officers indicated that future consideration would include Ofsted judgements, feedback from schools and the number of pupils returning to mainstream education.

Cllr Stanton said this should now be built into any future decision to extend the contracts:

“If Cabinet is asked next year to roll these contracts forward, continuity alone should not be the only test. The Council should be looking at outcomes, reintegration, value for money and whether the provision is actually reducing exclusions.

“If we’re back here in a year’s time extending the contracts, I want to know what has actually improved. Have fewer children been excluded? Have more returned to mainstream school? Are we getting good value for money? If the answer is yes, extending makes sense. If not, we need to be honest about that.”

Returning to Launders Lane, Cllr Stanton added:

“Residents have lived with this for years already. The Council is now openly acknowledging that, if the legal route has to run its course, there may be another two or three years of fires, smoke and harm to health before works can be carried out.

“That makes it even more important that the public health consequences are not treated as an afterthought. Residents deserve regular updates, meaningful health monitoring and a clear plan for supporting the community while the legal process continues.

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