Community Relations Wearing Thin as Problems Continue Over Smell From Landfill.

North Staffs Green Party have been working with residents and campaign groups opposed to odour emissions from a landfill site.

 

There have been problems relating to emissions of hydrogen-sulphide and Methane gas from the Wally’s Quarry landfill site in Silverdale, which is operated by Red Industries.

 

The party worked with Dr Michael Salt, a chartered nuclear physicist living in the area, to conduct a public research poll over the past week, gathering data from 270 residents.

 

This North Staffs Green Party Coordinator Jade Taylor said had provided ‘a very clear picture of which areas are impacted and the levels of intensity’.

 

The survey showed the worst impact of unpleasant odours from the quarry was felt in Silverdale with 91.3% of respondents saying they were disgusted by the smell. Residents in Pool Dam (73.5%), the Westlands (66.7%) and Keele (55.3%) also complained about bad smells from the site.

 

The survey also revealed the emotional impact of living next to the quarry on residents, including a widow who had been unable to visit her husband’s grave in nearby Silverdale Cemetery due to the smell.

 

MS Taylor said this was ‘only one story of how the awful odour is proving to be detrimental on the surrounding communities’.

 

She added that with the possibility of a second lockdown there ‘pressing concerns’ about the impact the smell will have on the ‘physical and mental health’ of residents.

 

In a letter to Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Aaron Bell thanking him for raising the issue in parliament MS Taylor writes that the attitude of Red Industries towards concerns expressed by residents and their MP has been ‘aggressive and deflective’.

 

The party will be continuing to work with local communities to gather evidence and have reached out to Jo Maugham QC of the Good Law Project. It is understood that Mr Maugham has requested an introduction to assess the possibility of taking legal action.

 

MS Taylor said that despite the harmful impact on residents and the environment repeated breaches of regulations by Red Industries had ‘attracted no visible consequences, and therefore community relations are wearing thin’.

 

Walking Into A Better Future.

Living Streets, a national charity working to promote walking as a means of transport through creating a better environment in which to do so has published a five-year strategy aimed at getting Britain on its feet.

 

The strategy, ' Walk With Us' sets out their campaign priorities for the next five years. A statement on their website says that during lockdown ' millions of people have rediscovered walking and governments across the UK have prioritised active travel'.

 

This has been a positive development, one that has helped to reduce air pollution and helped many people manage their wellbeing during a hugely stressful time. 

 

The statement goes on to say that, however, ' too many streets are not for purpose'. In addition, the pandemic has exposed the 'stark inequalities in many communities and the loneliness experienced by older adults '.

 

Launching the strategy Dame Jane Roberts, Chair of Living Streets said, 'we have a choice now between a cleaner future for people, places and our planet, or continuing with activities which damage our health and environment '.

 

The strategy focusses on three key areas, these are encouraging more people to choose walking for shorter journeys, making the streets safer for them to do so and making walking an activity in which people from all communities and age groups can participate.

 

There was, Dame Roberts said, a pressing need to ' transform the way we move around our towns and cities', doing so will 'play a significant role in reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality and achieving better physical and mental health'.

 

The strategy would, she said, ' put us firmly on the path to achieving these ambitions'.

 

The Walk With Us strategy is linked to the Stepping Forward project launched by Living Streets in 2019.

 

 This will see them work to create a network of walking routes in every community, to have improved safety guidelines relating to pedestrians included in the Highway Code and for a ban on pavement parking. They will also campaign for a 20mph speed limit on built up areas and for more children to be walking to school by 2025.

 

Also speaking at the launch Mary Creagh, chief executive of Living Streets said that during lockdown 'millions of people rediscovered the simple act of walking, the oldest and greenest transport there is'.

 

She added that too many people were finding it hard to walk safely in a network that prioritised cars over people.

 

There was, she said, a need to put walking ' at the heart of government policy to ensure that we build back better and avoid a car led recovery '.

 

This would, MS Creagh said, 'allow us to tackle the twin epidemics of obesity and loneliness and create a cleaner future for pedestrians from all walks of life'.

Resilience is Getting People Through the Pandemic But Government Must Do More to Avoid a Mental Health Crisis.

Results of a survey carried out for the Mental Health Foundation and published to coincide with World Mental Health Day show how Britons have been coping with the pandemic.

 

Resilience, the ability to cope with stressful situations was cited by 64% of the people questioned as what helped them get through lockdown. A significant number of respondents reported experiencing some level of stress since the pandemic began.

 

Our of these 87% said they had used at least one coping strategy , these ranged from positive activities like going for a walk or spending time in nature, some respondents though said they had used less healthy ones such as eating or drinking too much.

 

The survey found that respondents who were unemployed or on low incomes were less likely to say they were coping well than those in full time work. People with pre-existing mental health conditions also reported struggling to cope.

 

The Mental Health Foundation has worked with the universities of Cambridge, Swansea, and Strathclyde along with Queen's University in Belfast to create a longitudinal survey covering the whole UK.

 

This is the third publication of findings from the study and focused on the theme of good mental health for all. The data was collected through an online YouGov survey and focus groups were used to further explore the findings.

 

Previous publications of results from the survey have highlighted the number of people who feared losing their job but to the pandemic (May) and how lockdown has exacerbated existing problems with loneliness for the over 60's (July).

 

Although resilience has helped many people to cope with the pandemic so far it is becoming ever clearer that there is a long way to go yet. That makes it even more important that local and national government act.

 

The Mental Health Foundation have put forward a range of suggestions for what form that action should take.

 

These include the creation of a Covid-19 Mental Health Response and Wellbeing Recovery Plan that would operates across all areas of government. The newly created National Institute for Health Protection, they suggest, should incorporate an awareness of its impact on mental health into their work on communicable diseases.

 

The report calls for cuts to council public health budgets made during the austerity years to be reversed. Local authorities, the report says should develop safe places for social interaction using existing assets such as libraries, this would be supported using a designated funding stream from central government.

 

Since March, the pandemic has placed a heavy burden in lost lives and livelihoods on the UK. Many people have been able to cope in the short term with the hardships they have faced, this report suggests that long term damage to our national mental health can only be avoided by acting now.

 

20% Of the Population Could Need Help With Their Mental Health Following Covid Says Charity.

The pandemic has created 'economic, health and social uncertainty and insecurity', this will have an insecure impact on the mental health of the population.

 

This is the conclusion reached by the Centre for Mental Health in a report published last week.

 

The charity worked with partners in the NHS to predict that 10million people, 20%of the population may need new or additional support with their mental health as a result of the pandemic.

 

Two thirds of those needing support will have had existing mental health needs.

 

People seeking support are likely to do so to help them cope with depression, anxiety and loneliness.

 

This grim picture is supported by figures from Public Health England showing that levels of mental distress were higher in April of this year than at the same point in 2017 and 2019.

 

In April 30% of adults reported levels of mental distress high enough to require treatment. This figure has fallen since the Spring but could rise again as a second wave of the virus unfolds.

 

Among the groups experiencing the most serious impact were women and young adults, the Public Health England figures show both were more likely to report O or mental health than either men or older adults.

 

Anxiety levels amongst adults were, in general, higher than usual with people who were unemployed or on low incomes most seriously impacted. Key Workers also reported higher levels of stress and anxiety than non-key workers.

 

The Public Health England figures also suggest a link, as does the Centre for Mental Health report, a link between increased mental distress and spending more time at home.

 

Levels of mental distress look set to rise as a second wave looks imminent and more data emerges about the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of specific groups such as BAME people.

 

Writing in a blog post on the Centre for Mental Health website director Sarah Hughes for more support for people struggling with their mental health and for that support to utilize local knowledge.

 

She adds that it is 'important the government and the NHS are prepared for the rising level of need and ready to meet it, whenever possible before people reach the point of crisis'.

 

The assessment of the likely impact of the pandemic on the nation's mental health is stark enough; but may yet prove to be conservative.

 

The impact of a second wave along with that of the economic shock-wave likely to hit in January could see need grow faster than the virus itself. This will present a major challenge for public health services that have already been stretched to breaking point.

 

As report author Nick O'Shea writes in his conclusion just as Covid has 'tested every nation's resilience and resources, so will addressing the psychological and emotional consequences. There is time to prepare, but the window is limited'.