Councillor Kevin McElvogue has spoken of the plight of residents living living with ongoing odour issues allegedly linked to a nearby mushroom compost factory.
In 2024, Northway Mushrooms went into administration, and the operators of the Aghnagar Road site are now Sawgrass Substrates Ltd (SSL).
Speaking a last Tuesday’s (November 10) Environment Committee meeting of Mid Ulster District Council, the Independent representative for Clogher Valley DEA commented: “It’s just in relation to Sawgrass mushroom compost factory up in Killeeshil. What the people are going through up there is unbelievable and a total disgrace.
“People couldn’t even plan a Halloween party at their own house anymore because of what’s happening, the smell of it.
“It’s going on every day, but it seems to be getting worse all the time, and I think this Council definitely needs to look at it, or probably NIEA.
“These people have been living up there all their lives, and then that factory comes in, and you actually can smell it in some of the houses if you walk into them.
“It’s just definitely not good enough what’s happening up there. I think someone needs to do something about it.”
Strategic Director of Environment, Mark McAdoo explained that he could not comment on the matter due to ongoing legal proceedings: “Environmental Health did carry out a comprehensive investigation into that issue. The results of that were highlighted to the DEA members a couple of months ago, but I have to stress that legal proceedings are ongoing against the Council, so it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this time.”
Councillor Mark Robinson (DUP, Clogher Valley DEA) echoed Councillor McElvogue’s remarks about the smell issue: “Just on the back of what Councillor McElvogue has said, I agree wholeheartedly. No later than this morning, I was on the Dergenagh Road, and I could [detect] the smell. It is constantly ongoing.
“I appreciate what Mark is saying if there’s legal proceedings. I wasn’t aware of that. But does that mean then we can’t ask any questions around it until those legal proceedings complete, or what is the basis of the legal proceedings? Is that a relevant question?”
The Strategic Director of Environment replied: “There’s the potential of a judicial review, so, again I’ll just point out it would be inappropriate to make any further comment.”
Committee Chair, Councillor Donna Mullin (Sinn Féin, Cookstown DEA) concluded: “We can’t make any more comments. So, we’ll leave it at that and we’ll wait for the outcome of that, and then we can come back to that.”
