Council told to plan for rubbish fire health risks

Havering Council has been told to start monitoring the "long term health impacts" of a perennially burning rubbish dump at a site in east London.

Arnolds Field in Launders Lane, Rainham, has caught fire more than 100 times since 2019, with local residents reporting stinging eyes and nasty coughs as a result.

The council designated the land as contaminated in October last year after a lengthy legal battle, led by campaign group Clean The Air in Havering.

This week, the council's scrutiny committee proposed they adopt a more proactive approach to monitoring the site, including setting up "plans to monitor and to detect long term health impacts" of the fires.

Councillor David Taylor, a Conservative opposition councillor, said that "while we might not be seeing health impacts immediately, they could be something that crop up in a decade or so".

Taylor said the council should put a plan in action now, rather than waiting for problems to appear.

Council leader Ray Morgon, with the Havering Residents Association (HRA), said "permanent" measures to monitor air quality were in place.

He added that the council was "really focused" on the health and wellbeing of residents.

Clean The Air in Havering, a group founded by three mothers, posted a statement on social media this week which said: "Any action that has the potential to reduce the harm experienced by Rainham residents is encouraging."

The campaign group added that clear communication with residents was essential as well as reassurance that health and safety decisions were rooted in "solid scientific and operational grounds".

Soil analysis in November 2023 found the land at Arnolds Field contained asbestos, plastic bags, crisp packets, bricks, cans, polystyrene and asphalt.

In its 20-year history, the site was also used as an illegal weapons store and a cannabis farm.

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