Partner organisations are continuing to work together to prevent odour issues from a waste landfill site near Johnstown.
Hafod Landfill has generated significant public interest in recent years, with local people reporting foul odours affecting the village.
Since 2025 members of the group have been working together to try and find a way forward, including local residents, councillors, MPs and SMs, Wrexham Council, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Enovert – the company that runs the site.
Key points discussed at the latest meeting held in June (2026) include:
Monitoring
Offsite odour monitoring continues to take place at 14 locations, including nearby residential areas.
The highest odour complaint levels occurred in January, but from February onwards there’s been a substantial reduction in complaint numbers. This is consistent with daily odour monitoring checks, which have recorded reduced frequency and intensity of odour over the same period.
The council also continues to monitor for Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) in the atmosphere, with two air quality monitoring units located in the neighbourhood.
Measured hydrogen sulphide concentrations are below health-based guideline levels and monitoring reports are available to view on NRW’s ‘How we are regulating Hafod Landfill’ website pages.
However, air quality monitoring is not part of the environmental permit regulated by NRW.
NRW’s regulatory role at Hafod is defined by the site’s Environmental Permit. NRW continues to regulate in line with the permit requirements, which includes assessing whether all appropriate measures are being used to manage odour.
Complaints
Residents can report odours to NRW by contacting 0300 065 3000 or via the ‘Report It‘ form on its website. Reports are invaluable in helping to monitor and address any concerns effectively.
During the past 12 months, complaints peaked around December 2025 and January 2026, but the numbers have dropped steadily since then.
What happens when a complaint is submitted?
When a report is received, it is logged and assessed by NRW officers, and considered alongside other reports, monitoring data and information they hold about the site.
NRW does not assess reports in isolation. Instead, it uses them to build a wider picture over time, helping to identify patterns and target regulatory activity. Reports may lead to further site inspections, investigations or engagement with the operator.
NRW understands that people would like feedback on the reports they submit. However, because of the number of reports it receives, as well as data protection considerations and the way it assesses information collectively, NRW is not able to provide individual responses.
Providing updates on each report would reduce the time available for regulatory work. NRW therefore provides regular updates to share information about its overall activity.
In order to establish a statutory odour nuisance, Wrexham Council officers have to visit complainants’ homes to witness the odour.
Work on site
Enovert continues to carry out improvements at the site, including ‘capping’ (sealing and covering parts of the ground), drilling wells to ensure all gas is captured, and improving the way rainwater run-off is managed to reduce the generation of leachate (the liquid formed when rainwater runs through landfill).
“It’s important we continue to listen…”
Councillor Hugh Jones, chair of the Hafod Landfill Stakeholder Group, said: “This isn’t a short-term issue and there are no quick fixes, but things are moving forward.
“Odour levels and complaints do seem to be down at the moment following a peak at the start of the year, so that’s encouraging. We’ll continue to monitor things to see if those levels stay the same.
“Enovert has reported progress with capping and other works on site, so that’s very positive too.
“However, residents remain concerned, and it’s important that we continue to listen carefully to the local community.
“The stakeholder group has proved a really positive forum for bringing together local people, public bodies and Enovert, and it’s all about working together to help ensure the site can be a good neighbour to the community.”
Sign-up for NRW’s newsletter
NRW produces a regular newsletter to help keep members of the public and local businesses updated on progress at Hafod Landfill.
You can sign up on the NRW website, and read the latest newsletter.
