Featuring on BBC Breakfast this morning and across local media:

Residents claim their lives are being made a misery by a massive “eyesore” landfill site that now looms over their village, bringing with it swarms of flies and thick clouds of dust. Furious locals in Duckmanton, Derbys. , have watched the foul-smelling site grow considerably over the years to the point where it has now encroached upon the hillsides overlooking homes in the picturesque village. They report that swarms of flies descend upon their living rooms and kitchens on a daily basis, leaving them feeling like “prisoners in their own home” due to the relentless dust that prevents them from enjoying their gardens.

The recent spell of hot, dry weather has rendered the persistent odour emanating from the landfill “completely unbearable”, yet residents fear they are stuck where they are, as selling their properties would prove virtually impossible.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/midland-residents-say-eyesore-landfill-34317717

Here’s why the media operating in Scotland are not able to echo this problem:

Scotland’s environment agency is TWICE as effective in closing illegal waste dumps

In 2024/25, Sepa intervened and closed 167 sites.¹

Ten times the population, the EA ten times bigger, the task ten times bigger so around 1 670 interventions?

Nope, 743², less than half as many per head of population.

How is this possible? After 15 years of Tory/Labour mismanagement, the EA is rubbish at doing its job?

Sources:

1. https://beta.sepa.scot/about-sepa/who-we-are/our-performance/annual-report-and-accounts-2024-2025
2. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025