Angry residents won't know if Seafield stench has gone for four more years

WORK to start tackling the infamous "Seafield stench" is set to finally get under way – but campaigners warn it will be four years before they know if it has made any difference.

Construction work on a £20 million package of measures is expected to start next summer and will be completed by 2011.

The plan – approved by the city council earlier this year – would mean 94 per cent of the affected homes around Seafield would no longer have an odour problem.

Among the measures being introduced is an "odour abatement plant" to be fitted above the sewage tanks to filter out the noxious smells.

New screening and treatment equipment will also be fitted at the sewer entrance to the plant, and all of the open channels between the different areas will be covered.

A £40m option to cover all of Seafield's tanks has been put on ice until this first phase of measures is finished and subject to a year of monitoring.

Local pressure groups, who have been campaigning to have the sewage tanks covered, today said the delay was unacceptable.

But local MSP and Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill welcomed news that designs for the revamped plant will be ready early next year.

Mr MacAskill, MSP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, said: "It's been a long time coming but I welcome the commitment to the odour improvement scheme and the partnership working of all involved. There is still a distance to travel but everyone should welcome the steps now being taken."

Plant owner Scottish Water is in the process of delivering more than 15,000 postcards with an update on the project to residents and businesses in the EH6 and EH7 postcode areas of Edinburgh.

Rob Kirkwood, a spokesman for Leith Links Residents Association, said: "In spite of the glossy leaflets, this will come as a huge disappointment to the residents who really feel let down by the Scottish Government.

"The SNP argue they have done more than Labour because of this phased approach but it will take three years to build, and then another year of monitoring before they even consider the real solution, which is covering the tanks."

Scottish Water submitted its odour improvement plan to the council in April last year, just two weeks before a major breakdown saw 100 million litres of sewage released into the Forth.

The firm was then forced to revise its plans and came back with the latest version in May, which was agreed by council chiefs.

Local councillor Gordon Munro hit out at the timescales involved with the project.

He said: "It will be four years before we know whether or not this will eradicate the Seafield stench. It is a pity that the Scottish Government did not take the opportunity to match fund the investment being made at Seafield. This would have seen the demand of Leith Links Residents Association being met with coverage of the Primary Settlement tanks. This is not an unreasonable demand for Scotland's largest facility."

John Telfer, Scottish Water's head of PFI, said: "This investment package, borne out of the Seafield Odour Improvement Plan is targeted at significantly reducing odour emissions and leading to a better quality environment for local residents and businesses."