Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, writes:
You will have seen the recent articles in the Guardian and the BBC discussing the ongoing issue at Launders Lane.
We want to reassure you that the Council understands your concerns and we remain committed to finding a solution.
This administration has taken more action on Launders Lane since it took over the Council, than the previous administration did in 10 years.
However, as we have stated a number of times, this is not Council-owned land, so our options are limited.
In fact, we are now at a point where we have done all we can and are calling on urgent support from the Mayor of London, GLA and the government to intervene to resolve this crisis and put a stop to the fires once and for all.
Let’s be honest, if this was happening in an inner London borough, City Hall would have already taken action.
We continue to work with partners including the London Fire Brigade to try and find the best way forward.
We have attended regular meetings with the local community and publish email newsletters to ensure residents are kept updated as and when new information is available.
Despite the landowner’s claims that they’re trying to ‘improve the site for the local community’, the fact remains that they have not yet submitted a formal planning application.
The site belongs to them and is their responsibility to make it safe. The ball is in their court and we are ready to work with them to solve the problem.
Regardless of who owns the land, the Council has worked with agencies and scientific researchers to carry out studies on the land so we can try to find the causes of the fires and the extent of any contaminants.
This has included installing air monitoring equipment around the site and extensive soil sampling to better understand what’s been dumped there.
We have also undertaken several studies into medical issues to see if there are any demonstrable impacts of the fires on the health of local residents.
Last year, the Council served an abatement notice against the landowner, and agreed to withdraw it contingent on the landowner meeting certain conditions to minimise the risk of fires.
These steps need to be taken by the end of April 2025, or the Council will re-serve the notice.