People living in Chestfield, a small community outside Whitstable, Kent, claim they have been left unwell due to a stench emanating from an estate more than one kilometre away
Residents of a small community in Kent say they have have been left vomiting, struggling to sleep and with watery eyes due to a “horrendous” sewage smell emanating from a nearby estate.
Locals in Chestfield, just outside Whitstable, have claimed their lives are being made unbearable due to a smell they have said is being pumped out from the Oxenden Park development. Waste is being pumped through the estate, in Greenhill, near Herne Bay, and into the wider sewer network and Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment Works.
But the system isn’t working as intended, reportedly due to low property occupancy rates, which have left wastewater sitting in local pipes.
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Celena Campbell, 71, is among residents who have spoken up about the devastating impact the stench has had. She said that, although intermittent, the “absolutely horrendous” smell has started taking its toll on her mental health, and left another resident physically sick.
She said: “It makes your eyes water. It’s the worst possible smell you can imagine. One lady up the road was physically sick because of it.”
“I don’t complain about my mental health lightly, but to be perfectly honest, I’m at my wits’ end because you never know when it’s going to be there. It’s really terrible.” While some attempts have been made to resolve the smell, including a temporary sewage disgestion fix, and the use of treatment chemicals carried out by developers Bellway, issues have seen it return.
The issue has become so pervasive that a group of residents staged a protest at the estate on April 12, among them Mandy Friend, who described the lengths she has to go through to disguise the smell.
She told Kent Online: “It makes it really difficult to plan anything. You want to invite your friends over for a barbecue, but then you think, ‘They’re not going to want to come over if it absolutely stinks of sewage outside’. You end up going through bottles and bottles of bleach, and lighting scented candles, but you can’t even open a window because it comes in from the outside too.
“There are times that the smell is so nasty that it wakes you up at night.” Bellway said in a statement to the outlet that it planned to have a temporary solution back up and running today so normal sewage flow may resume, with tankers having previously transported waste away from the estate.
A spokesperson said: “Bellway is aware of the issue raised and is working closely with our technical teams and contractors to resolve it. We are taking the matter seriously and steps are already underway to address the situation as quickly as possible.”
