We apologise that we were unable to attend the last public meeting, which took place on Friday 28 June. This was due to the 2024 General Election and the legal restrictions on the Council during any pre-election period. 

Unfortunately, we have heard that there were several inaccuracies and some misinformation shared at the meeting which we were unable to clarify, particularly relating to planning applications. You can read a clear update on the planning position in this bulletin.

Senior staff and Council leaders will be attending the next meeting, where we will give a more detailed explanation of the enforcement notices we have served on the landowner, as well as an update (if available) on their appeal. 

We will also discuss the TRL air quality report in more depth, and answer any questions you may have on the situation. 

Until then, please don't hesitate to get in touch using the dedicated Launders Lane email address (launderslane@havering.gov.uk). If you see a fire then call 999 for the Fire Brigade, but please also let us know by emailing the Launders Lane inbox, or calling 01708 432777 (during office hours). 

Pre-application advice has been sought by the landowner on their proposals for the site.

Advice has been given by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) in reply, however no formal planning application for the proposals has been received.

It is open to the landowner to submit a planning application if they so wish and for the LPA to reach a formal decision on the proposals. In the meantime, the LPA remains open to having further discussions with the landowner.

Havering Council has issued an Abatement Notice against the landowner, DMC (Essex) Ltd, regarding the likely occurrence of smoke from the fires causing a statutory nuisance (covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990).

The notice means that should further fires occur causing smoke and fumes to be released into the area which affect residents, further formal action can be considered.

Residents should contact the Council when fires are causing them an issue, rather than after the event, so that evidence can be gathered. You can do this by calling 01708 432777 during office hours (but please call the fire brigade first on 999). If fires are noted outside of office hours, please let us know by emailing the Launders Lane inbox. It should be noted that should fires occur and not cause a statutory nuisance, formal action cannot be pursued.

DMC (Essex) Ltd has now appealed against the notice and we are awaiting the date of the appeal from the Courts. The notice is suspended until the appeal is decided, however please let us know the details (including time, impact etc.) about any fires so evidence can be gathered to support any action using the contact details above.

We have also issued a Community Protection Warning (CPW), which is the precursor to a Community Protection Notice, served under the provision of the Anti-Social Crime and Policing Act 2014. 

This requires DMC (Essex) Ltd to carry out proactive steps to minimise the likely occurrence of fires, and other appropriate action. This could include securing the site to prevent unauthorised access and possible arson. The CPW includes key milestones that DMC (Essex) Ltd must adhere to, and we will be reviewing the site in August 2024 to ensure they have complied with the CPW. 

The Council has carefully considered the content of the Contaminated Land report, and found that the only possible significant risk of harm from the site is the potential risk of contaminants from fires, which the TRL and other air quality monitoring is assessing (read more on this below).  

Land is declared as “Contaminated Land” under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and must present a 'Significant Possibility of Significant Harm (SPOSH)' to human health. This is primarily through skin contact, the uptake in any vegetables or plants grown on the site for consumption, or contamination of the local watercourse. 

The report makes it clear that there is a high risk from inhalation to anyone who is directly on the site when a fire is occurring, and also for ground gases to affect anyone using the site in future, if it is redeveloped for housing or industrial use. Otherwise, the other risks are very low-moderate and, considering the current use of the land, are not significant.    

As such, the Council has decided that the site is not formally designated as Contaminated Land (under Part 2A), as the site is not open to the public, nor is it easily accessible. Therefore, the possibility of people coming into physical contact with the soil and/or gases is low.  

Whilst the recommendations within the report indicate that securing the site, capping and venting will further reduce the risk from future fires and prevent unauthorised access, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the fires significantly spread contaminants to neighbouring properties.

Although it should be noted that whilst the current monitoring has been in place, there has not been a large number of fires since last summer, so the air quality monitoring has not picked up anything outside of the normal levels for the area.

As such, the Council is dealing with the matter under the statutory nuisance/community protection notice regimes (as listed above). However, if further evidence comes to light with regard to the SPOSH and the increase of the risk/possibility of significant harm, we are reserving the right to take action under Part 2A. 

A further study is being commissioned to assess the risk of asbestos fibres escaping from the site, which we will openly share all the outcomes of. As our consultants said at the previous public meeting in November it would be highly unlikely for any fibres to be emitted from the site provided any asbestos present is not disturbed.

However, as stated at the meeting we want to be sure of this and establish whether the presence of fires has any impact on this.

Since the end of August 2023, there have been four fires (over the past ten and a half months) attended by the London Fire Brigade – these were Friday 10 May and Thursday 4, Friday 5, and Thursday 11 July.

There is continuous hourly air quality monitoring data available from the Breathe London nodes (via the Council website or direct from Breathe London) that encircle the Launders Lane (Arnold’s Field) site.

Here is an assessment of the monitoring data from those nodes in relation to those four fires:

• 10 May – no elevated levels of PM_2.5 (ultra-fine particles measuring 2.5 microns or less in diameter, or less than 2.5 thousandths of a millimetre) were seen at any of the nodes around the period of the fire despite the general wind direction (east south easterly – ie. from the east/southeast towards some of the nodes).
• 4 July – no increase in PM_2.5 was detected – however, the mostly westerly wind direction recorded is likely to have influenced detection of particles by the nodes, blowing away from the housing and node sites.
• 5 July – a relatively small and very brief increase in PM_2.5 prior to the call to the fire brigade but, within an hour, the increase was back to usual levels and the daily air quality index (DAQI) did not increase above “low” for the day – note mostly westerly wind direction again.
• 11 July – elevated levels of PM_2.5 were detected at the Ingelbourne node during the afternoon (winds generally westerly) but were approximately the same as the non-fire related levels seen in the early hours of 9th July. However, isolated slightly elevated readings were also detected at the Spring Farm Park and Acer Avenue nodes in the late afternoon and evening (during a period of varying winds veering from westerly to more east south easterly).

In addition to the continuous monitoring of PM_2.5 and NO₂, TRL, an independent research organisation, with many years of experience monitoring commercial and large residential fires, has been commissioned by Havering Council to undertake air quality monitoring in and around the Launders Lane area.

The TRL project seeks to understand the potential levels of airborne pollution associated with the uncontrolled burning of materials at Launders Lane, and to quantify the ambient levels of airborne pollution without any fires.

The pollutants being monitored are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Heavy Metals (Mercury and Lead). Wind speed and direction are also being recorded.

This interim report summarises the air quality monitoring being undertaken by TRL Ltd around the Launders Lane site in Havering, from Thursday 18 May 2023 to the end of December 2023. The report findings are that nothing measured to date indicates that any recommended limits (annual mean thresholds), where they are available, are likely to be exceeded or give any cause for concern.

It is recommended that the on-site monitoring at the Launders Lane site continues through the summer of 2024 to ensure that air pollution associated with any fires attended by the London Fire Brigade is monitored.

Read the full report