Pestering smells can be a reliable indicator of underlying safety issues and hazards, as well as a source of discomfort for inhabitants and passersby. In fact, the UK government considers them a “statutory nuisance”. Residents are even able to file claims to their councils for scents that can “substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises” or “injure health”. A study compiled by packing business Lifestyle Packaging examined smell related complaints from 2015 to 2019 to rank the British counties by the highest number of complaints proportional to its residents.
The top 10 smelliest places in the country include the City of London and Westminster. This does not come as a surprise as the heart of the capital is a restless tide of commuters and tourists clustered in busy streets, shops, and restaurants. The high concentration of businesses – and arguably of pubs; 430 in Westminster and 160 in the City – is bound to bother its permanent inhabitants with sharp smells. Indeed, the City of London received the most complaints from “Food Premises”. The business district usually feeds 513,000 workers every day, despite being the smallest county in the UK with only 7700 residents.
Residents of these boroughs suffer negative externalities from the animation of the shops and canteens anchored in their neighbourhoods. Waste management is a critical concern in all Metropoles and there has been major progress since the Great Stink of 1858 – which led to a sewage system that is still used today – reducing fowl sources of urban odours remains a critical concern. The UK government takes this seriously by sending human “sniffers” to assess complaints and issuing hefty fines to trade and business premises that fail to comply with abatement notices. Unlike several European countries, the UK has guidelines in place to regulate smell complaints. This shows a certain level of foresight to avoid undesirable consequences of lousy waste management, which have a poor impact on the quality of life of taxpayers and contribute to building a neglected image of a community.
The overwhelming number of complaints filed to councils at a national level – 114,411 in the last five years, which amounts to 1 in every 500 residents – reflects that an effective system exists to identify problematic areas worthy of attention. However, the study does not mention how many complaints are adequately addressed. This is ultimately what improves the quality of life of residents who are otherwise subjected to the discomfort of living spaces permeated by bad smells.
Sustained bad smells can also denote concealed problems that repel homebuyers and contribute to making the reputation of neighbourhoods as neglected. This does not seem always to be the case in London. The exponential rise of real estate prices in the central postcodes – already the most expensive councils in the country – is seemingly unaffected by odour concerns. A sought after location outweighs small spaces and busy areas that are guaranteed to lower air quality. The burden is ultimately borne by locals and reflected in the high number of complaints per 100,000 residents: 1344 in the City and 936 for Westminster. These numbers indicate a call for better practices and sanitary measures to be implemented in commercial establishments as much as a lesson in coexistence between businesses and citizens in urban spaces.
Paradoxically, London also houses some of the least smelly parts of the country according to the interactive map charting the study’s findings. Beyond the limit of zone 1, the boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Bromley, Tower Hamlets, Croydon, and Lambeth appear much further down the list. Barking and Dagenham received only one complaint in five years. An interesting socio-spatial relationship between the urban landscape and the smells it inhabits exists in London. However, are there really less bad odours in certain areas or are people just reporting less?
Curiously, at the heart of the action, “Londoners are more likely to accept smell annoyances, or perhaps they are less perceptive towards them considering the amount of traffic and industrial activity the ‘Big Smoke’ experiences on a daily basis”. This is what Richard Quelch, Global Head of Marketing at Lifestyle Packaging, speculates in a blog post outlining the data acquired through Freedom of Information requests. After all, a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is the decrease in population density in the London hub. The distribution of smells around the capital is bound to change, along with the number of smell complaints councils receive, increasing the wellbeing of Westminster and the City’s inhabitants while revealing other areas of concern.
The study revealed that the UK government has a streamlined complaints process to collaborate with locals to address the sources of smell nuisances. Lifestyle Packaging also published the most unusual complaints received, which range from “Excessive Cats” to “Strong Garlic and Curry Smell” and “Vaping”. The personal nature of the unusual complaints listed shows that acute smells can change our experiences dramatically, especially with its exceptional connection to memory. Smells have an impact on attitudes and lifestyles, which is why access to a complaints platform responds to basic needs. It allows residents to hold their council accountable while contributing to the treatment of permeating issues in their societies. In a mutually beneficial arrangement, residents help the council to identify problematic areas and councils respond by addressing them.
Words by Elena Vardon.
Love Lifestyle? Read more here.
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.