RESIDENTS living beside a whopping recycling plant say they’re trapped in their homes by a foul stench that leaves them unable to sleep. People living in Nechells, Birmingham will be forced to keep windows closed during this week’s 30C heatwave because of the stink from the Smurfit Kappa paper mill. They’ve complained of bad odours […]
RESIDENTS living beside a whopping recycling plant say they’re trapped in their homes by a foul stench that leaves them unable to sleep.
People living in Nechells, Birmingham will be forced to keep windows closed during this week’s 30C heatwave because of the stink from the Smurfit Kappa paper mill.
They’ve complained of bad odours from the plant for years – but fears over air quality in the area have heightened in recent weeks after a huge fire tore through the business.
Mum-of-three Nahid Begum says she’s considering moving away.
“It’s come to the point where I want to move from here,” she said.
“I love my home, I love living here – but the smell is on another scale.
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“It’s revolting and constant. It just turns your stomach.
“I’ve been living here 22 years and it just seems to have got worse and worse.
“You can’t even enjoy being in your garden because the smell is really bad.
“It’s so bad it actually wakes you up in the middle of the night. We have to keep our windows shut in the summer.”
The 50-year-old says the stench is “really depressing”.
Anita Warmington, who lives in nearby Thornberry Walk, has painted her front door black because its former light colour was stained by dust billowing from the plant.
The 52-year-old, who has been in her home for 21 years, said: “It’s like a burning, acidic smell – it could be anything I’m breathing in.
“If the wind is blowing in this direction, the smell just floods your house.
“I love my house and I always say the only thing that would make me move would be that factory.”
She said the site should be dismantled and rebuilt away from houses.
Pensioner Nasim Ahktar, 77, said she was “ashamed” to have visitors over.
“When people are in my house, they all ask what the smell is. I’m embarrassed about it,” she said.
“I’m always buying air freshener and using it every day.
“You feel like you can’t breathe. I’m old – it cannot be good for me to be inhaling this stuff in.
“The place needs to close and be moved to somewhere else.”
Her son Saj Choudhury, 47, added: “You can’t sleep with your windows open at night.
It’s so bad it actually wakes you up in the middle of the night. We have to keep our windows shut in the summer
Nahid Begum
“You have a shower and you still have the smell on you. If you hang your clothes out, they’ll stink.
“It’s terrible. At night, you can’t see anything because there’s clouds of dust and smoke in the air.
“It’s madness. There’s no thought at all given to the people who are living around here.
“There are elderly people, children, and they are just being left to suffer.”
MP Shabana Mahmood and local councillor Lee Marsham have written to the Environment Agency requesting an immediate review of procedures at the plant, which lies just two miles from Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone.
Smurfit Kappa says it always “fully engages” with the regulatory body and would continue to do so.
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A spokesman told Birmingham Live: “From time to time, odours can occur during paper production. The intensity of these odours are often impacted by wind direction and weather conditions.
“Smurfit Kappa has always fully engaged with the Environment Agency. However, the company has never received an odour complaint from the local authority.”
