Residents living near Davidstow Creamery, the world’s largest cheddar factory, have claimed that the fumes and pollution from the plant have been causing depression, sleeplessness, and suicidal thoughts.
Despite a court order five years ago, ordering the owners to reduce odour and pollution, locals say they remain unhappy with the lack of action taken. The factory is responsible for well-known brands such as Cathedral City, Frylight, Clover, and Davidstow Cheddar.
The problems got so bad that last year, the Environment Agency prosecuted the plant, issuing a record £1.5m fine. During the case at Truro Crown Court, the EA said that the environmental performance of the company had been unacceptable for too long and needed to improve significantly.
The problems with the factory have made the lives of residents near the plant a living hell for years. The revolting smells and noise from the plant have caused many issues, with some feeling suicidal and others suffering from headaches and nosebleeds due to the stench in the air.
Despite the large profits being made from the site, locals say that the firm has done little to appease their complaints. The noise and smell have been bad for residents, with some stating that the smell is so bad that they have to close their windows at times. The smell has been described as unique, with variations of a dead sheep, rotten eggs, and sewage.
Dairy Crest, the company responsible for the factory, pleaded guilty to 21 out of 27 charges brought against them and was fined £1.52m in June last year. However, locals say that despite the fine, they are still suffering to an unacceptable degree.
Davidstow Creamery is the UK’s largest dairy processing facility, bringing about 1.3 million litres of milk to the site daily from approximately 370 local dairy farms. About 1.2 million litres of treated process effluent is discharged into the upper reaches of the River Inny daily.
The Environment Agency said that substances or products created during the manufacturing process are harmful to the environment, which means it is a regulated facility and requires an environmental permit to operate.
The company has been guilty of repeatedly exceeding limits on substances like phosphorus and suspended solids entering the River Inny from 2016 up to 2021 and numerous leaks of part-treated effluent into nearby watercourses and onto the land.
It was also guilty of producing foul odours repeatedly affecting residents over many years and for failing to tell the Environment Agency within 24 hours of when things had gone significantly wrong on site on seven separate occasions.
A Saputo spokesperson said that the company has undertaken a substantial program of capital investment and operational improvements over the last four years at the Davidstow site, but they are aware of a few neighbours still experiencing issues around odour and noise, and further initiatives are underway to address this.
The Environment Agency confirmed that it has continued to receive complaints since the court case last year and that it has recorded multiple permit breaches for a variety of issues, including odour, noise, and water quality.
The agency is requiring the operator to take steps to prevent or minimise these impacts now and in the future. It also said that it will continue to monitor off-site impacts from this facility against their environmental permit, assess and where necessary respond to reports of pollution, use regulatory powers to ensure the operator delivers the planned improvements as quickly as possible, and keep the affected communities updated on these matters.
»Neighbours of world’s largest cheddar factory say cheese smells give them suicidal thoughts«
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