'Like being hit in the face', Bury's reeking landfill wants to expand operations

Dear readers — we hope you had a glorious weekend in the sun and are handling the mugginess we’re now being dealt as penance. The air in The Mill’s office could be spread on toast, and according to our local weatherman things are set to improve only marginally. Today’s big story, to really bring home the feelings of dank closeness, is about a landfill that smells so bad it stopped some local residents from wanting to leave their homes. Now, it wants to branch out and help GM recycle. But will the community accept it? That’s below.

Over the weekend, we teamed up with our sister papers across the country to try and better understand what led to the far-right rioting we saw in the previous fortnight. “A necessary and timely piece, and another excellent example of why I subscribe,” commented one member. We argued that a growth in conspiratorial networks over the pandemic made people more susceptible to the misinformation that sparked the riots. To read that, click below.

That piece was a collaboration between six reporters across four cities — each of which told a crucial part of the story. We have never had the capacity to work in that way before, and the only reason we now do is thanks to our members, who fund and support our work with subscriptions. If you think this slower, more in-depth coverage is what Manchester needs, then join us today. It’s £8.95 a month — cheaper than a Netflix subscription and, in our humble opinion, helps do a lot more good.

The World Cup of Tennis comes to Manchester

From today’s sponsor: Great Britain’s best tennis stars will go head-to-head against Canada, Argentina and Finland at The Davis Cup in September. Being hosted at the AO arena in Manchester, big names including Cameron Norrie and Milos Raonic will be taking to the court. Tickets are selling for as little as £10, with premium options and hospitality packages available.

To book your tickets, click here.

If you’d like to sponsor a briefing, get in touch with us at [email protected] 

🌤️ This week’s weather

Our local weatherman Martin Miles says temperatures will gradually get cooler from this week, but there are still plenty of lovely summer days to enjoy.

Tuesday 🌦️ Dry and warm with sunny spells in the morning, turning cloudy with showery rain from the west in the afternoon. Breezy. 22°C.

Wednesday 🌤️ Pleasantly warm with sunny spells, light winds and mostly dry conditions. 22°C.

Thursday 🌧️ Breezy and muggy, with outbreaks of light to moderate rain. 20°C.

Friday 🌤️ Fresher with sunny spells and the occasional blustery shower. Breezy. 18°C.

Weekend 🌦️ Remaining breezy with mixed weather conditions and average temperatures for the time of year.

You can find the latest forecast at Manchester Weather on Facebook — daily forecasts are published at 6.15am.

The big story: Bury's reeking landfill wants to expand operations

Top line: The operator of a landfill site in Bury that produced a stench so bad that councillors said it was like being “hit in the face”, has requested to handle more waste. Valencia Waste Management, which operates the Pilsworth landfill, is still being monitored by the Environmental Agency, and earlier this year faced calls to have its licence removed. Andy Burnham said the situation was “not acceptable in the slightest”.

Smell hell: Local councillors say the smell started when Valencia took over the landfill site, which borders Bury and Rochdale, in 2022. Last summer, reports surfaced of local residents saying they were “sickened” and didn’t want to go outside. Local business owners feared it would drive away custom and damage their livelihoods.

• After months of complaints and criticism, earlier this year Valencia said they undertook “significant engineering work”, capping the waste and enhancing gas capture. They claimed the smell was gone

A lingering odour: Local councillor Joan Grimshaw told us this isn’t the case, and that she and other councillors in neighbouring Heywood continue to receive complaints from residents. “They [Valencia] are not good managers, what they’re doing is affecting the community, with the smell.”

Singed nostrils notwithstanding, landfills — which bury waste between layers of earth — are less green than recycling. What Valencia are asking for is permission to process more recyclable material at a new centre on the site. But for many locals, a company with such a blotted copy book shouldn’t be given any more responsibility. When we asked Grimshaw if she supports expanding its operations, she said: “I don’t, and I don’t think anybody else does”.

The combined authority handles waste disposal for all boroughs except Wigan (which handles its own arrangements). It is the largest waste disposal authority in the country, handling 4% of the UK’s municipal waste. 

When it comes to recycling, the CA works with a company called SUEZ, a recycling and recovery firm that operates across Europe. They first started working together in 2019, and have since diverted 99.8% of Greater Manchester’s waste from landfills like Pilsworth.

• Last month, they extended their contract with the CA, worth £800m, to 2034.

The boroughs with the highest rates of recycling tend to be more affluent. In 2022/23, Stockport topped the list in GM with 60% of its household waste going to processing sites, followed by Trafford which recycles 58% of its household waste. Rochdale and Oldham recycle less than 50%, and the worst recycler is Manchester, with just 39% of waste getting recycled.

Valencia stresses that it doesn’t want to expand the landfill, but only to process more material that already comes into the site at a new recycling facility. “This is a significant investment in recycling infrastructure and will see any recyclable material removed and sent for reprocessing before residual waste is landfilled at the existing site,” it said in a statement.

Bottom line: For now, the company remains under supervision by the Environmental Agency, the same department from whom it's asking for permission to process more material. And, given the GMCA’s goal to reduce landfill use (diversion is nearly at 100% already), and enduring anger about the stench, it’s unlikely to be welcomed.

Your Mill briefing

🏡 The GMCA wants to extend its controversial Housing Investment Loan Fund. The ten-year fund will come to an end next March, and has loaned £1.2bn to developers to build new homes across the city region. Manchester has enjoyed the lion’s share, with 6,291 homes being built using the money. Wigan, on the other hand, has seen just 25. The combined authority will ask the government to extend the fund at the next spending review. If that doesn’t happen, it will need to repay the money by 2028. 

The fund is at the centre of a legal challenge brought against the GMCA by the Weis Group. The developer says money from the loan has been unfairly distributed — distorting Manchester’s property market — after almost half of the loans given out so far (£500m) have gone to one company: Renaker, the builder behind Deansgate Square.

📉 Oldham Council is facing down a £36m funding deficit and is asking staff to consider voluntary redundancies to help plug the gap. The council has had an embattled few years — leaders have been deposed, and political tensions have risen over issues like child sexual exploitation. Now, leader Arooj Shah says that, due to rising pressures on social care and temporary accommodation, “we’ve got no money”.

🚨 Two people were shot in Moss Side over the weekend, but neither have suffered life-changing injuries. It came as the annual Caribbean Carnival attracted thousands to the area. GMP’s Matt Walker said: "Thankfully, the victims' injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, but there could have been worse consequences to this act.” No arrests have been made, and police are appealing for information from the public.

Home of the week

This cottage dates back to 1737 and has three bedrooms spaced over two floors, with one accessed via a private mezzanine, and French doors opening up to a beautiful garden with panoramic views of the Oldham countryside. £425,000.

Our favourite reads

How to read a riot — The Financial Times

When the academic Bill Buford joined a crowd of Manchester United hooligans in the 1980s, he concluded that the thugs weren’t rioting because of deep political grievances or reacting to deprivation in Thatcher’s Britain. “They rioted because it was exhilarating.” Keir Starmer wants to stop riots forming with “preventative action” including stepping up policing, but “British towns also need to find ways to build a sense of community that transcends ethnicity”. Offices have emptied out since the pandemic and “people increasingly live alone on their phones. The feeling of community that rioters experience is all too rare.”

Nazir Afzal on riots, racism and the far right: ‘These people are so stupid, they tell you they are coming’ — The Guardian

Growing up in Small Heath, Birmingham in the 1960s, there was never a day when Nazir Afzal didn’t come home with spit on his coat. One day, three boys attacked him and left him bloody on the ground. When he got home, his dad saw his face and told him “Don’t tell your mum”. These early experiences of racism became an “organising principle” that inspired him to enter the justice system, eventually becoming the chief crown prosecutor for the North West (and now Chancellor of The University of Manchester). He also talks about his reaction to the recent riots. “I admire the restraint of communities who have been provoked. They’re holding back because they know that it will just make things worse. But is it over today? I don’t know if it’s over today. But it will pass. And there will be consequences.”

How strong is the evidence against Lucy Letby? — The Times

Lucy Letby has now been convicted on 15 counts of murder and attempted murder in Manchester Crown Court, making her the most prolific child killer in British history. In recent weeks, magazine journalists, expert neonatologists and statisticians have picked apart the prosecution’s evidence, which ranges from a diagram showing newborn babies suffering “catastrophic collapses” when Letby was in the room, to circumstantial evidence such as a handwritten note that says “I killed them because I’m not good enough”. Questions still persist around the safety of the convictions, and of Letby herself, an “apparently motiveless killer who had nothing to gain and everything to lose”.

Our to do list

Tuesday

🎸 Paolo Fuschi, a Sicilian blues guitarist and jazz singer, is performing a free gig at Matt and Phred’s from 8pm. It’s happy hour until 11pm, and you can get a free pizza when you buy two drinks.

🎨 Jatiwangi art Factory, founded in 2005 by the artist Arief Yudi, is an art collective that explores rural life in Indonesia through art. They’re currently in residency at Esea Contemporary, where you can see two film portraits exploring their work and interact with clay sculptures. More here.

Wednesday

🍄 Urban mushroom farm Stockport Fungi are hosting a workshop at Altogether Otherwise to help you grow your own mushrooms and understand the edible and medicinal uses of fungi. Sign up here.

🎧 Denham Audio, the breakbeat and hardcore producers who became an overnight success with their viral performance of Make Me at Boiler Room, are performing an extended set at Ramona. We recommend arriving early for Detroit-style thick slabs of pizza and cocktails. Book a spot here.

Thursday 

🎤 The Spinning Top in Stockport hosts a weekly jazz and blues jam session, with all instruments provided and everyone welcome to come and play, no rehearsals needed. Free entry.

🎭 Six, the multi-award winning Broadway musical about the life stories of Henry VIII’s six wives, is coming to the Lowry’s beautiful Lyric theatre for a three-week run. Book here.