Wildfires

Lord Bailey of Paddington Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Grand Committee

[Lord Bailey of Paddington (Con)]

My Lords, it is a real pleasure to take part in this debate; I congratulate my noble friend Lord Caithness on securing it. I am a born-and-bred Londoner. Wildfires are not really an issue there, except that things have now become so bad that the urban-rural interface encroaches on London; this led to the London Fire Brigade’s busiest day since the Second World War, which has already been spoken about.

As we know, almost all wildfires in the UK are the result of incidental or deliberate acts by humans and have devastating impacts on local communities and wildlife. This issue was brought to my attention by residents near where I live in Essex, who have suffered greatly from fires. In 2022, Wennington was the scene of a wildfire that burned down 18 houses; at its peak, an area of more than 100 acres was ablaze. Some residents had their homes and all their worldly possessions completely destroyed.

There are various theories about the cause of that wildfire. One that many of the residents believe is that embers from a fire at the nearby Arnolds Field might have started the blaze. Under Arnolds Field are tonnes of years-old, illegally dumped toxic waste. It has been smouldering beneath the surface for decades; the site is now referred to locally as the Rainham volcano. Despite the slightly funny name, this is no laughing matter. The odour from the smoke emanating from the site has been the cause of misery to residents for several years. It has real-life impacts. Throughout the summer, the residents have to keep their doors and windows closed to prevent them choking on the fumes and smoke coming from the site.

However, these measures are not enough to keep residents from feeling the effects. One resident, Ms Pauline Claridge, has lived in Rainham for 15 years and was sadly diagnosed with asthma nine years ago and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease emphysema about five years ago. She believes that her breathing has become worse because of the smoke emanating from these fires.

There is a continuing saga of blame being passed around: the local council is not the landowner, so it thinks the landowner should take charge; meanwhile, the landowner believes that the Mayor of London should take charge. The locals believe that somebody should take charge, because they are suffering. I urge the Minister to write to me so that I can go back to those residents, as they want to know who will take charge of this case. I ask him to take particular note of the Rainham volcano and to learn why the Mayor of London, the local council or the landowner cannot prevent these fires happening and remove the site.