Alert – Smell from nearby brewery was so bad it almost wrecked my marriage: Neighbours reveal hell of living next to stinking bottling plant and say they’ve not been able to sit outside for three summers

Neighbours have revealed their hell of living next to a stinking bottling brewery which they say has stopped them sitting outside their homes for three summers.

Residents of Broadstairs, in Kent, say the ‘sickly’ and ‘abhorrent’ smell coming from South East Bottling brewery is so bad that they can no longer sit outside and are forced to keep their windows shut.

While one resident is thinking of selling up and leaving as they claim the rancid smell has nearly wrecked their marriage.  

They are also up in arms about the noise from the business, saying bins can be heard banging and crashing at all hours. 

But bosses say that local residents and the council need to compromise – with the managing director saying he actually finds the smell ‘quite pleasant’.

Residents of Broadstairs, in Kent, say the ‘sickly’ and ‘abhorrent’ smell coming from South East Bottling brewery is so bad that they can no longer sit outside

Local Marion Langelier, 82, from Broadstairs, Kent, said: ‘When it smells it interferes with my leisure time. It stops me going out in the garden’

went to speak to locals but found there was no obvious aroma in the air when our reporter went to visit the coastal town. 

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, has been leading the charge against the unpleasant smell and loud noises.

They said: ‘I have not been able to open my windows or sit outside for the last three summers.

‘I directly went to the brewery and got told “tough”. When I spoke to neighbours they said “we will leave it to you then?”.

‘I have just got to the point now where I might leave it because it has almost wrecked my marriage.’

They added:  ‘I just do not think they should be there, it is just too close to residential houses.

‘The amount of lorries and noise and everything else, they should be out of the way.

‘It is literally 20ft from the bottom of my garden, and we are higher so the smell comes straight in.’

Matt Walters, 55, who lives next door to South East Bottling on Mayville Road, and described the smell as like Horlicks and ‘quite sickly’. 

‘The smell is awful,’ he said. ‘I am aware they’ve been told they need to do something to try and mitigate it and since I’ve heard that I have smelt it on one more occasion.

Gill Elwell, 62, says the ‘wheaty, oaty smell is really pungent and it is all times of day’

The brewery, on Northdown Industrial Estate in Broadstairs, has been ordered to carry out an odour assessment by Thanet Council

‘It has not been as strong as it was last year, last year it was unbearable. It stunk. 

‘It’s worst in the summer because you have your windows open and you might want to use your garden.

‘It really and truthfully it is just really unpleasant. To be fair to them, the noise is a lot better, it was almost like an airplane on the tarmac with its engine turning over, that is the kind of sound it was.’

Gill Elwell, 62, also lives close to the bottling plant and has been impacted by the smell.

She said: ‘It is just a wheaty, oaty smell, it is really pungent and it is all times of day, you get a waft of the smell.

‘It is very, very strong. To be truthful, one time I thought it was someone cooking, I did not realise it was there, but it is a very, very strong smell.’

James Jamieson, 69, who lives just a few doors down from Mr Walters, said: ‘In the early days I could hear it every night when I went to bed, it was a constant droning.

‘I kept thinking I had tinnitus.’

He added: ‘It just smelt like a brewery essentially, I didn’t realise it was a bottling plant until I smelt the smell.

‘A strong smell of yeast in the air, particularly late in the day in the summer months when you have got your windows open, but obviously in the winter you do not hear an awful lot because there is double glazing and it is all buttoned down, but you still hear the drone when you are in bed.’

However, not everyone is bothered by the yeasty pong. 

Michael Baines, 77, who lives on a street set further back from the industrial estate where the bottling plant is, said: ‘I do not notice it in the house, but when I am outside I think “oh yes, that smells like beer”.

Michael Baines, 77, who lives on a street set further back from the industrial estate where the bottling plant is says he ‘does not notice it in the house, but when I am outside I think “oh yes, that smells like beer”‘

South East Bottling said working hours had been restricted so the flue was only used once or twice a day, to a maximum of 10 times per week 

‘It is a malty sort of smell, I might not have recognised it if I had not been elsewhere where there had been beer making.’

Local Marion Langelier, 82, from Broadstairs, Kent, said: ‘When it smells it interferes with my leisure time. It stops me going out in the garden.

‘If the wind isn’t blowing it lingers. It’s like a malty sort of smell.

‘When it’s sort of strong and it’s just hanging around all the time and never clears away it’s annoying.’

While Dave Kemp, 74, says he can live with a little bit of smell and wouldn’t want the plant to shut down and have up to 15 people without a job.

‘Sometimes in the summer, if the wind is blowing in a certain direction and it is going all day then you do get a strong whiff, but then for two or three weeks you do not get anything.

‘It is I suppose, probably quite heavy. It is quite a heavy smell, but it comes and goes. It doesn’t worry me at all.

‘I do not know how many people work over there, but if they shut it down or alter it, that could be 10 or 15 people out of work, and for the little bit of smell I can live with that.’

The brewery, on Northdown Industrial Estate in Broadstairs, has been ordered to carry out an odour assessment by Thanet Council.

South East Bottling submitted a retrospective application to install a flue on the property and planning officer imposed a condition to provide an independent analysis of the smells.

The brewery tried to have the condition removed, but the council refused, saying: ‘The failure to submit an odour assessment would result in harm to the amenities of the occupiers of surrounding dwellings in terms of odour.’

Working with brands such as Old Dairy and Tiny Rebel, the brewery says it is ‘unfortunate that in current times, local residents and the council choose to operate in an anti-business manner’.

South East Bottling said working hours had been restricted so the flue was only used once or twice a day, to a maximum of 10 times per week.

They felt they had ‘reached an appropriate compromise’, but were then asked to provide the odour assessment out of their own pocket – which they rejected, calling it ‘not relevant and unnecessarily costly’.

Despite neighbours complaints, some admitted to not minding the stench, with Chris Prentice, 49, saying: ‘I don’t mind it. It doesn’t stop me sitting out in the garden at all.

Dave Kemp, 74, says he can live with a little bit of smell and wouldn’t want it to shut down and leave staff there jobless

‘I would describe it as like hot Weetabix. It’s quite comforting. It’s nice.’

Managing director Duncan Sambrook said the only way to completely stop the smell is to use a vapour heat recovery system which cost anywhere from £2,000 to £7,000.

The small business says this is ‘extremely expensive’ while they are still recovering from Covid.

Mr. Sambrook said: ‘We are sorry that some local residents find the smell repulsive. I actually find it very pleasant.

‘Ultimately, though, what we are asking for is a compromise with our neighbours to recognise the need to be pro-business for the small impact that our operations may have on their enjoyment of the property.

‘We have had an ongoing dialogue with the council, but unfortunately our neighbours have chosen not to engage directly with us, instead preferring to raise complaints through the council.

‘From the outset, we have sought to engage proactively with residents and the council.

‘We have, at our own cost, addressed a large element of the initial concerns, and we do not consider that it is unreasonable for us to be able to operate a flue without restrictions during weekdays between the short windows of operation.’

A spokesperson for Thanet District Council said it fully supports local businesses, but ‘must balance this with its duty to ensure that regulations are adhered to, safeguarding residents and the environment’.

They added: ‘As this is an ongoing investigation involving both environmental health and planning enforcement, we are unable to comment further.’