Any plans to develop a former landfill in Rainham must be "sympathetic" to the green belt and help to end frequent fires, according to Havering Council's leader.

Fires at Arnolds Field, in Launders Lane, Rainham have led to fears among locals that they are being exposed to harmful gases.

Businessmen Jeremiah O’Donovan and Finbarr McMachon, whose company DMC Essex bought the land in 2017, recently accused the council of “blocking” their offers to clear up the land.

They claim the council has delayed feedback on their proposal to process the landfill materials in exchange for permission to turn part of the green belt site into an industrial facility.

In a statement on June 22, council leader Ray Morgon said he met with landowner Mr O’Donovan the previous week to talk about his proposals and “how to resolve ongoing issues”.

He said: “We both agreed that we need to do the best for the local community and solutions need to be found and that we will continue to have an open dialogue.

“Further meetings will now take place with the council’s planning team to discuss their pre-application plans, as well as allowing a company to access the land to do soil sampling to better understand what materials are buried underneath.”

The council leader said any development on the land must be “sympathetic” to the green belt status of the land as well as offering a “way forward” to end the fires.

He added: “However, we have an open mind on how to resolve this and will work with Mr O’Donovan and his representatives.”

Neither the council nor the landowners have responded when asked why soil sampling has not already started.

A spokesperson for the Rainham Against Pollution steering group, which has urged the council to “get around the table” with the landowner, welcomed news of the first face-to-face meeting in five years.

They also questioned the council’s caution about allowing development on the Green Belt site when it is pushing to build a data centre nearby.

The last known survey of the site in 2011, commissioned by the Environment Agency, recommended a more detailed investigation due to “potential risks to human health”.

Based on 25 four-metre deep pits, surveyors estimated that “30,000 to 40,000 cubic metres” of unregulated waste had been dumped there.

They found evidence of carcinogenic substances such as lead and benzo(a)pyrene and noticed that the land was so warm that it melted the winter snow.

An enforcement notice was issued in 2004 to former landowner North London Developments Limited due to raised land levels. 

This enforcement notice is still in force, a council spokesperson has confirmed.