The People Overview & Scrutiny Sub Committee was scheduled to meet to discuss a report on Launders Lane (Arnold's Field). The sub-committee was expected to scrutinise the report and agree on recommendations for the Overview and Scrutiny Board to consider for referral to the Cabinet for response. The meeting was held jointly with the Places Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

Launders Lane (Arnold's Field)

The sub-committee was scheduled to discuss a cabinet report on Arnold's Field, also known as Launders Lane, a privately owned site at Launders Lane, Rainham, RM13 9FL. The report was produced in response to a motion agreed by the Full Council on 23 July 2025, which called for a report to the Cabinet meeting in September 2025 detailing how the administration planned to rectify the situation at Launders Lane.

The report outlined the history of Arnold's Field, investigations initiated by the council in response to fires on the site, and proposed options to stop the fires currently under consideration. According to the report:

The Council acknowledges and understands the concerns from residents and recognises that the volume of fires being experienced, having to close their windows (due to the smoke) for extended periods of time and having to lose use of their gardens and local parks in the summers is not acceptable. The Council also recognises that the recurrent fires have an impact on the physical and mental health of local residents.

The report noted that between 2002 and 2014, the site was subject to illegal activities, including fly tipping, firearms storage, and drug cultivation. The volume of illegal waste dumped, combined with the site not being managed as an authorised landfill, was described as the root cause of the ongoing fires and smoke.

The report stated that from 2004 to 2018, enforcement action was taken by the council, the Environment Agency, and the Metropolitan Police, including the serving of Planning Enforcement and Stop Notices, and criminal prosecutions. Further enforcement action was taken by the council in 2024 with the serving of an Abatement Notice¹ and a Community Protection Warning² on the current landowner.

The council also carried out air quality monitoring, commissioned an intrusive soil investigation, arranged testing of the watercourse, sampled for asbestos in the air, and analysed health impact data.

Following a judicial review ruling in June 2025, the council was in the process of making a new decision on whether the site should be determined as Contaminated Land under the Environmental Protection Act 1990³.

The report included several recommendations for Cabinet Members to consider, including noting the actions taken to date and possible future actions, as well as the costs to the council to date and potential future costs/risks.

The report also detailed the council's approach to rectifying the situation, including understanding the causes and impacts of the fires, identifying and pursuing solutions to stop the fires, and recent activities such as addressing issues raised by the judicial review and developing a Memorandum of Understanding between the London Fire Brigade, landowner, and council to improve fire-fighting abilities.

The report outlined potential next steps, including making a decision on whether the site meets the thresholds for determination as Contaminated Land and serving a Remediation Notice or Abatement Notice on the landowner to stop the fires.

The report also detailed the direct costs to the council, project management aspects, communications and stakeholder engagement, actions, milestones, potential timescales, and projected spend related to the situation at Arnold's Field.