Strange sirens, acrid smells, and fears of chemical catastrophe: why Garston is fighting the plant in their backyard

A community with some of the worst health outcomes in Liverpool says they’ve developed “terrible coughs” and their concerns are being “ignored”

Dear readers — It starts with the smell. Some say it’s like bleach; others, like acetone. It’s a strong, unpleasant, chemical smell, the kind that burns in your throat and makes your eyes water. This is what people living close to a Veolia recycling treatment plant in Garston have reported in recent months, after the council greenlit an expansion to the chemical-processing site in January.

Both Veolia and the council say that locals have nothing to worry about. But especially since a concerned resident’s emails to councillors about the plant were mysteriously diverted – and the resident offered financial compensation for his trouble – the district isn’t sure who they can trust. Today’s story is about locals’ efforts to get more concrete answers on how, exactly, a plant that processes thousands of tonnes of hazardous chemicals might be affecting their well being.

Editor’s note: In a time when most mass media companies rely on clickbait headlines, sensational framings, and the informational equivalent of fast food to keep pace with social media, our aim is to do things a little differently. Nearly four years on from our founding, we’re hoping to take on more ambitious stories than ever for the remainder of 2024 and into 2025 — but we can only hold power to account with your help. We are so grateful to every single one of our paid subscribers; if you haven’t yet joined their ranks, you’re welcome to hit that subscribe button below. Just £7 a month gets you two extra members-only stories a week, plus the warm inner glow that comes with the knowledge that you’re directly supporting high quality local journalism.

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Your Post briefing

Scoop: Regular readers will remember our exclusive report last month that the Isla Gladstone Conservatory’s operators, T.I.G.C Ltd, owed in excess of £350,000 to Liverpool City Council. Two weeks ago, our follow-up story investigated the financial dealings of T.I.G.C Ltd and asked whether they were effectively squatting in the historic building. Now, The Post can reveal that the total outstanding debt T.I.G.C Ltd owes to the council is in fact…drumroll… £685,042.66. Magnanimous as ever (to the right people), the council agreed to write off a large portion of the debt, meaning T.I.G.C Ltd only had to pay £342,600. “Has this been paid?” asked a Freedom of Information request submitted to the council. Their terse reply? “No.”

Some crimes are so shocking, even the victims believe the perpetrator should not come forward. That is the opinion of Gary Tinnion, whose garden gnome, Fred, was abducted in 1976. Fred’s disappearance was part of a spate of “gnome-nappings” that terrorised Formby nearly half a century ago. On Tuesday, the man behind the thefts phoned BBC Radio 2 to confess. Identifying himself as “Arthur” but declining to give his last name, the man admitted he and Colin — his then five-year old brother — were responsible for the disappearance of Fred and countless other gnomes. “[Arthur] should stay in the shadows,” Mr Tinnion told Radio Merseyside.

A cyber security issue at a Merseyside hospital was declared a “major incident” earlier this week. After the incident began on Monday, patients were asked to only attend the emergency department at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral with a genuine emergency. Some outpatient appointments were also cancelled as the issue continued into Tuesday and Wednesday. “A major incident was declared at the Trust yesterday for cyber security reasons and the incident remains ongoing,” A Wirral University Teaching Hospital spokesperson said. “We are working to rectify the issue and our business continuity processes are in place. Our priority remains ensuring patient safety.” The BBC reported on Wednesday that Merseyside Police had confirmed they were not investigating the matter.

And good news for fans of The Wombats: the mid-2000s indie rock act will be returning to Liverpool in June next year to headline the opening night of On the Waterfront Festival. The four-day open-air event, which last year attracted a sell-out 45,000 people to the city’s Pier Head, has been billed as the band’s "biggest hometown show to date". If you’re not an aficionado of “landfill indie” — the term music journalist Andrew Harrison coined that followed The Wombats around like a bad smell for years — other headline acts will include the Wolfe Tones and Sting.

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By Abi Whistance

Last Saturday, the residents of Garston woke in the early morning to a strange and unsettling noise: a high-pitched siren, cutting loudly through the mist. The local WhatsApp group lit up with messages. “Can anyone else hear that?” one woman asked. A neighbour responded with a blurry video taken outside his home, showing the weak light of nearby lampposts as that same siren blared out into the dark.

Soon afterward, a strong chemical smell drifted across the district. “It stung my eyes,” one resident tells me. According to witness testimony, both the sound and smell were coming from a hazardous chemical recycling plant on nearby Blackburne Street, operated by a company called Veolia.

Over the last few years, the people of Garston have been raising alarms about the plant — and their concerns went into overdrive earlier this year, when Veolia was granted planning permission to expand its site, allowing it to process even more hazardous chemicals. Over 600 residents objected to these plans, worried about the impact the expansion would have on their health and wellbeing. But the council decided nonetheless to give the plans the green light.

An illustration by Jake Greenhalgh

This news was particularly disappointing for Laura, who first moved to Garston in 2013. She had been looking for somewhere to settle down with her two-year-old, and the council’s promise to regenerate Garston’s community assets appealed to her. But nearly a decade on, there is still little in the way of parks for her child to play in — this, she says, is why the expansion of Veolia feels like such a slap in the face. “You want somewhere where your kids can go to play, but that gets left by the wayside,” she says. Meanwhile, “something that can potentially damage your health is put through at the click of a finger”.

Since the news of the expansion, things have descended further into acrimony. At least one concerned resident’s emails were diverted away from the inboxes of local councillors and instead sent to a council officer. Some residents are suffering from hacking coughs they attribute to the plant. And given that some of the chemicals being processed there are the same as the ones involved in the largest explosion in Britain since World Wars I and II, many fear the potential for catastrophe.

According to Veolia, however, these concerns are unfounded. “The Veolia Garston site was fully operational this weekend and we can confirm that no alarms sounded from the site,” they told us, despite residents’ videos. "We understand that odours from the site can cause concern for residents and we investigate any complaints from residents swiftly. We have been operating the facility for 30 years with an excellent safety record. Our local community is important to us which is why we recruit locally, offer tours and free educational visits for local schools to explain the recycling process and how this site in Liverpool is helping build a circular economy."

However, it is clear there has been a breakdown of communication, with a deep level of distrust solidifying between the residents of Garston, the council and Veolia. There are important questions that need to be answered: is the plant truly a threat to public health? And what can be done — if anything — to calm the anxieties of residents now frightened for themselves and their children?