A councillor in Newton Aycliffe has spoken out about a smell compared to "rotten eggs" that has been wafting over town but said the authority does not have the power to "magically make it go away".
Phillip Hawkins, a councillor sitting on Great Aycliffe Town Council, said he "experiences the same smell as anyone else", after frustrated residents took to social media over the weekend complaining of a "stomach churning stench".
Described as making some feel "physically sick", it is not yet known where exactly the smell is emanating from but The Northern Echo understands that formal complaints have been filed with watchdogs about the stench.
"Is the council aware of the problem absolutely, but the fact is GATC (Great Aycliffe Town Council) don't have the power to magically make the smell go away".
He also said that environment agencies are involved, as is the MP for Newton Aycliffe & Spennymoor, Alan Strickland.
Mr Hawkins added: "Environment agencies are involved as is our MP and its at that level where the decisions are made.
"Comments on social media are all well and good, but results will come a lot faster if you direct your complaints to our MP and the environmental agency contact details that are available".
This comes after a similar smell was first reported in September 2023, when it was noted that a sulphur 'gas-like' smell was frustrating locals and was later narrowed it down to the Aycliffe Quarry Landfill site.
Work was scheduled to begin soon after, with bosses of the site saying the smell would be resolved "very soon" - but was continually pushed back due to poor weather and other delays. The engineering works were eventually completed in November 2024.
Now, seven months on, the Environment Agency has said it has received complaints regarding a smell in Newton Aycliffe, but it ruled out the possibility of the smell coming from Ashcourt.
The watchdog also said it has not received any complaints about the smell that was emanating from Ashcourt since February 6.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency previously said: "We have seen a marked reduction in reports to our incident hotline concerning odours in and around the Aycliffe Village/Newton Aycliffe/Brafferton areas from around mid-November, which ties in with completion of the engineering works on site.
"Our last report of odour in the area was received on 06 February 2025.
"We can confirm that none of the odour reports we have received have been related to the waste site".
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