A perfume and fragrance manufacturer has been issued with a legal notice after Cheshire West and Chester Council concluded “odour amounting to a nuisance exists” linked to the Chester factory.

Last year CWaC revealed it was taking legal advice based on the results of a second period of air quality monitoring in the area of the Ungerer plant based in Sealand Road.

Now the council has written to residents explaining that an odour abatement notice has just been served requiring the company to take action to address the situation within four months and claiming that ‘the best practicable means have not yet been taken’.

Ungerer has hit back pointing to its extensive efforts over the past two years and hinting at an appeal.

Odour abatement notice

Maria Byrne, head of place operations at CWaC, said: “Following extensive assessment from an independent expert, the council has served an odour abatement notice on Ungerer requiring the company to take action within four months.

“I would stress that Ungerer has co-operated entirely with the council’s investigation and we are aware that some work has already been taken to reduce odour emissions.

“We are therefore hopeful that the company will continue to take appropriate action and that the nuisance will be abated in advance of the October 17 deadline.”

Fewer complaints

Avril Coady, of the Canal Basin Community Forum, praised the council for its actions while accepting the pressure appears to have led to fewer complaints already.

She said: “I’m really pleased. We have complained long and hard to get this kind of action – checks and balances in the whole thing. From my perspective, if Ungerer abide by it and they appear to be doing – we’ve not had half the smells we had – then that’s a big improvement.”

Ungerer, an international firm, has responded to previous concerns with several measures designed to reduce odour levels. These have included the cessation of the production of liquid reaction flavours on site and the introduction of an air extraction system to aid the dilution and dispersion of odours from the flavours laboratory.

In summer of 2012, the company installed an odour abatement system to its powder blending facility and the following year expel-air fans serving the laboratory were fitted with timing switches to prevent accidental operation when the premises were closed.

An activated carbon odour abatement system was installed in the fragrance building and a similar system also installed within the quality control laboratory to serve the oven.

Dismayed and bemused

An Ungerer spokesman said “Whilst we are pleased the council have acknowledged the extensive efforts Ungerer has made to comply with the requests made of us over the past two years, we are dismayed and bemused that the council has taken the decision to issue an abatement notice.

“The council’s comprehensive investigations of Ungerer in both 2013 and again in 2014 concluded that our company presented no statutory nuisance. Ungerer has not received any notification of complaints from residents about odours for almost a year.”

He added: “The council’s justification for the abatement notice is apparently based on their recent findings but despite repeated requests they have refused to share that information with us.

“Their latest findings, we assume, must contradict the results of their previous investigations and also contradict the findings of an independent odour expert who recently conducted an audit of Ungerer’s operations.

“We do not accept that Ungerer poses a statutory nuisance and we are now exploring the option of appealing the council’s decision.

“The smell of sewage in the area makes any other odours pale into insignificance not only in intensity, but also in frequency. With that in mind, the amount of time, energy and resources focused on our company by the council is hugely disproportionate.”