'Rainham Volcano' fire prevention plan proceeds

An east London council is moving forward with plans to put an end to perennial fires at a former illegal landfill site.

The Arnolds Field in Launders Lane - dubbed the Rainham Volcano - was officially declared contaminated following a judicial review in October. It has caught fire more than 100 times since 2019, sending potentially harmful smoke billowing into homes.

Havering Council plans to spray areas thought most likely to catch fire with a polymer seal to reduce oxygen going underground and fuelling the fires.

This work, the council said, will give the landowner enough time to submit plans to develop the land or via other means. Plans to hire a contractor are due to be agreed next month.

Ray Morgon, leader of the council, said: "We are in talks with the landowner about putting a temporary solution in before next summer to stop the fires until he can implement a permanent solution, either through putting forward a planning application on developing the land, that should include solving the problem for good, or through some other means."

The Havering Residents Association leader told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the council's approach with the polymer seal should "last long enough to cover time needed for the permanent solution by the landowner".

The council will fund the work – the cost of which has not been made publicly available – and has written to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry for Local Government, the Environment Agency and the Greater London Authority to help cover the costs.

The council previously said any "substantial" works to stop the blazes could take between three and seven years to complete.

"Whatever the outcome, we are moving as quickly as possible, so residents don't once again suffer," Mr Morgon said.

In June, the High Court ruled the council acted unlawfully by not designating the land as contaminated, after a lengthy legal campaign fronted by Clean the Air Havering.

Between 2002 and 2014, Arnolds Field was the site of significant fly tipping, illegal firearms storage, and drug production.

The volume of illegal waste dumped, combined with a lack of management in the manner, was the root cause of the ongoing fires and smoke, the council said.

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