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§ Bob Spink (Castle Point)I raised the issue of air quality in south Essex in the 1990s when I was first a Member of Parliament and I raised it again in the first month that I returned to the House in 2001, yet still no proper action has been taken to provide proper monitoring of the problem in south Essex, hence the nightmare of the past five months in my constituency and surrounding areas. People have suffered health and quality-of-life problems because proper action has not been taken. I congratulate the Yellow Advertiser and my hon. Friend the Member for Billericay (Mr. Baron) on their campaign. I have been pleased to be able to join them in fighting on this issue.
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The Yellow Advertiser raised a petition that states:
To the Honourable Commons of the United Kingdom, Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.
The Humble Petition of the Yellow Advertiser sheweth.
That there is great anger and fear in South Essex about the pungent smells emanating from Pitsea Tip and blighting our communities, and residents and visitors wish to register their protest against those smells which have also caused serious health concerns and destroyed whole communities' quality of life.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House shall urge the Government to take action, through the Environment Agency, to curb the smells, to set up proper monitoring, to establish contingency plans to deal with any further smells and therefore to protect our communities.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.
§ To lie upon the Table.