Villagers are celebrating after securing a major victory in their campaign against three huge lagoons used for storing waste which they say are creating a foul stench across their community.
Located near Seething Airfield, the pits - with the combined volume of almost 40 Olympic swimming pools - are filled with byproducts of the food and drink industry and nearby residents have been complaining about the odour for three years.
This week, they won an important victory after the company running the lagoons failed in their bid to secure retrospective planning permission for the operation.
Neighbours had also complained about the volume of traffic using the site and it was on these grounds that Norfolk County Councillors rejected the application, saying they needed more information about the numbers of lorries calling at the premises.
The verdict leaves the lagoons facing an uncertain future, with the council now considering whether enforcement action should be taken against the site.
The decision is the latest twist in a long-running saga.
A planning application for a small-scale development, on Upgate Road, used to convert cooking oil into biodiesel was first approved in 2007, while the lagoons themselves were constructed in the 1990s - without planning permission.
Then, in 2019, Whites Recycling took over the site. Because the lagoons were then being used for industrial rather than agricultural purposes the company needed new approval, which it sought.
The lagoons are around 3.5acres in size on the north side of the Seething Airfield and can store 141,258 tonnes of organic liquid waste.
The application only came before the County Hall planning committee on Friday, following a long in the application being brought to councillors while the authority waited for more information on lorry movement from the company.
Planning officer Andrew Sierakowski said the council was highly concerned about the traffic implications of the development.
“We don’t know what the maximum number of HGV movements will be," he said.
“There’s no traffic-related information at all.
“We cannot adequately assess the impact on the highway network that’s been submitted.”
Phil Garnham, who spoke on behalf of Seething villagers, said since Whites Recycling had taken over the site in 2019 there had barely been a day they had not been affected by noise and odour.
He said: “For the last 1,094 days, our quality of life has been absolutely decimated from a wellbeing and business point of view.
“The constant smell, intrusive floodlights, the sound of pumping throughout day and night and the volume of traffic associated with this business has been abhorrent and nothing less than an invasion.”
Mr Garnham said residents have also received no support from South Norfolk Council (SNC), or the council leader John Fuller - who, he said, owns the land at Seething where the lagoons are dug.
Mr Garnham also criticised the local MP Richard Bacon for not responding to neighbours' concerns.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Fuller said he would be unable to comment on the application because he has declared an interest due to his company owning the land.
Michael Hudspith, from Seething Parish Council, echoed Mr Garnham's comments adding that he calculated villagers could be subjected to between 4,500 and 5,000 vehicle movements a year.
Mr Sierakowski acknowledged the resident's concerns surrounding odour from the site but said only the Environment Agency (EA) was able to take action on that issue.
Labour councillor Mike Sands questioned if the EA had produced their own report about smells.
Mr Sierakowski said the council had been in conversation with the EA who said it had received a big increase in complaints over the last three years.
“They have been and investigated those complaints and they have advised us and some of those complaints are substantiated and some are not.”
Speaking on behalf of Whites, Chris O’Donoghue said the company operated to the “highest standards” and have made improvements to the site, working with the EA.
Mr O'Donoghue said their usage of the lagoons was lower than the previous operators and wanted to work with highways officials and planners to continue to refine traffic management plans.
Conservative Tony White and Labour Mike Sands put forward a motion to defer the application for more information, which was defeated.
However, Liberal Democrat Robert Colwell said the council would be letting down residents if they did not make a decision, arguing the developer has had time to submit any missing information.
Councillors sought clarification on what it would mean if they rejected the application.
An officer said it would not make the lagoons "illegal" and instead the council would have to investigate taking enforcement action.
The application was refused. Whites now has the option to appeal the decision with the government's Planning Inspectorate or submit a new planning application.
Residents in Bressingham have raised similar concerns for an anaerobic digester and lagoons there.
It is unclear if the rejection of this application could have a knock-on impact for that scheme.
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