A Wiltshire MP is urging the Prime Minister to help provide answers on a “disgusting egg-like smell” that is impacting people living near a landfill site in the county. Thousands of people have complained about the “Calne pong” coming from the Hills Waste site in Lower Compton, with residents reporting headaches and breathing difficulties.
Liberal Democrat minister Sarah Gibson raised the issue with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs this week, saying she wanted to “reassure” residents of the town “they are not suffering from ill health”.
“We have a landfill site in Calne that is producing sulphurous smells that are causing residents to need to close their windows, causing children to have sore throats and yet I am not getting any answer except that the Environment Agency (EA) itself admits that controls may not be working effectively,” Ms Gibson said.
“Like my constituents I find it really disappointing that we are not getting any serious response. This is not the kind of thing you expect in the UK. You do not expect the air you breathe not to be safe and I would like to urge the PM to help me in getting a response from Defra and from the EA on what measures can be put in place to reassure my constituents.”
The Prime Minister thanked Ms Gibson for raising the issue in Parliament. “I will make sure I will go away and chase up that she gets the reply, and importantly, that they are entitled to,” Sir Keir said in response.
‘It’s very worrying’
Emily, a mum-of-two who lives in Calne, said she had “woken up gagging from the smell”. “We smell it every day and it’s disgusting,” she said. “My mum stayed at our house and said it smelt like a drain had burst. My daughter has noticed it too; it’s just vile. I want to be able to enjoy these lovely spring mornings, but you can’t breathe in or outside your house.”
Another Calne resident who lives near the waste site said the “rotten-egg stink” was “revolting” and she was concerned it would get worse in the hot weather. “It’s very worrying,” she told Business Live. “It’s good to hear the issue has been raised in Parliament, but something needs to be done soon. The smell is horrible.”
Last year, the EA confirmed the landfill site was likely to be responsible for the odour after an investigation lasting months - and it served Hills with an enforcement notice ordering a programme of landfill capping to reduce smells escaping from the site. But since the beginning of 2026 the EA has received nearly 3,000 more complaints about the odour. In March and April, the government agency carried out more than 60 inspections of the Lower Compton area and it is understood the main source of the smell is a current open landfill cell on the site. The EA has acknowledged the increase in complaints this year suggests the current site controls are not working effectively.
It has said there is “no indication of an immediate risk to people’s health”, however. “The community should not have to tolerate odours that significantly affect their environment, and we are continuing to investigate complaints made in Calne and the surrounding area, alongside our partners Wiltshire Council and the UK Health Security Agency,” an EA spokesperson said.
“While landfills and other waste activities will generate smells, the impact should be minimal, and the recent increase in odour reports indicates controls may not be working effectively. We have traced landfill gas odour to a specific part of Lower Compton Landfill and have required the operators to provide an action plan identifying how they will minimise odour. Several mitigation measures are already in place, including changes to daily cover materials, installation of temporary gas wells, connection of additional gas collection points, and extensive soil covering.”
As Business Live understands, Hills is co-operating fully with the EA and has developed proposals to tackle the problem, including changing how waste at the site is covered up. “Hills is aware of a recent increase in complaints relating to odour in the Calne area,” a spokesperson for the company told Business Live. “We take this matter very seriously, and where this is attributed to our landfill activities at Lower Compton, we would like to apologise. As a responsible business, we continually monitor and seek to improve operations at our Lower Compton landfill site. Working with the Environment Agency, we have agreed an action plan of immediate and longer term works to help reduce fugitive emissions of landfill gas.”
The EA is continuing to carry out assessments around the site, including early in the morning and in the evening when “the pong” is most commonly reported. It has also installed an air-quality monitoring station within the community and is planning to provide the data to the UK Health and Security Agency for analysis. Meanwhile, it is understood Hills is using a water-based system to reduce odour molecules being emitted from the site and is preparing to carry out more regular capping - a process that involves sealing a closed landfill with material such as clay to create a barrier and isolate waste from the environment.
The company is planning to start a 13-week programme of works on May 11 to cap over certain sections of the site. Other actions include the installation of extra gas collection points and covering large areas of the site in soil. “We recently welcomed Sarah Gibson MP on a tour of the Lower Compton site to explain our action plan, and we will be keeping Sarah and other local elected representatives regularly updated on the progress of these works,” the Hills spokesperson added. “Updates will also be shared on our website.”
