LLANELLI: Petition launched to move or shut the site blamed for summer’s fly plague

The pub that put a member of staff on “fly-watch” every shift through the summer is now one of the places to sign a petition demanding the site blamed for the swarms is moved or shut down.

Sean Rees and Louvain Roberts, the independent county councillors for Glanymor, the Llanelli ward covering Seaside, have launched the petition. It demands that the future of the AMG Resources facility is properly reviewed, with relocation to a more suitable location, or closure, considered.

The call is aimed at the Welsh Government, Carmarthenshire Council and the site’s regulator.

Paper copies are waiting for signatures in the places that lived through the infestation: the New Cornish Arms, the Seaside Sports and Social Club, Mr Chips, Premier Stores, New Dock Post Office and Newsagents, Morfa Social Club and the Biddulph Arms.

The swarms hit homes, pubs and shops across Seaside, Morfa and Tyisha for weeks this summer, with shops selling out of fly spray and more than 800 residents joining a Facebook group tracking the problem.

Natural Resources Wales confirmed the AMG site as a source in July. The regulator ordered a 21-day clean-up, before suspending part of the company’s permit as the crisis escalated.

That suspension was lifted in August, with the regulator saying the site was no longer contributing to the fly problems, though an enforcement notice and weekly monitoring visits remain in place.

For the two councillors, that is not the end of the matter. They said: “The message from residents is straightforward: they want action, accountability and a lasting solution.

“We cannot simply wait for another infestation before something is done. The lessons from this crisis must be learned, and robust monitoring and enforcement must continue until the situation is properly resolved.

“The future of the AMG Resources site needs to be seriously reviewed. Residents and local businesses must be given a proper voice in that process, rather than decisions being made without meaningful consultation with the people who have been directly affected.

“Our residents deserve better, and this petition is about making sure that the authorities cannot simply move on and hope the problem disappears. We need firm action now to ensure this does not happen again.”

The petition makes four demands: a review of the current site with relocation considered, monitoring and enforcement kept up until that review or move happens, proper consultation with residents and businesses on the facility’s future, and lessons learned so the crisis cannot repeat.

AMG Resources said in July, before the regulator’s confirmation, that it was not the source of the flies and had pest control measures in place.

NRW’s position last month was that the operator had done “extensive work” on waste management and site housekeeping since its notice was served, with its south west team leader Ed Davies saying: “Whilst this is a positive step, our regulatory activity continues.”

The petition is the councillors’ second major intervention of the crisis: in July the pair called for the NRW chair to resign over what they described as the regulator’s reversal on the source, and demanded compensation for affected residents and businesses. Neither call has been answered.

Residents say the infestations were first reported in 2018 and have returned each summer in hot weather. Breaking that cycle is what the petition is asking the authorities to guarantee.

Author

Kit Peters

Kit Peters is a journalist and the editor of Swansea Bay News, covering Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire since 2020.