The owner of the Arnold’s Field site, Launders Lane, has now refused permission for Havering Council to carry out its temporary solution to stop the fires on the site.
The owner of the Arnold’s Field site, Launders Lane, has now refused permission for Havering Council to carry out its temporary solution to stop the fires on the site, which have plagued residents for years, before the 2026 summer fire season is likely to commence.
After determining the privately owned site as Contaminated Land last year (2025), the Council has been working towards a temporary solution to stop the fires ahead of the 2026 summer fire season.
This continues the previous work by the Council to find a viable solution and involves the procurement of a cement polymer covering (CPC), which would be used to cover the fire hotspots on the site while long term remediation solutions are taken by the landowner.
However, the landowner, Mr O'Donovan of DMC Services (Essex), has now brought this relief measure to a halt by withholding permission and agreement to administer the CPC on the necessary areas of the site.
O'Donovan last year said he would submit a detailed alternate proposal for temporarily stopping the fires, as well as submit the long-awaited long-term remediation plan as part of a planning application he wishes to make for the site.
Neither the alternative proposal nor the planning application has, as yet, materialised.
The CPC solution, which would have been paid for by the Council, would have been applied to the key "hotspot" areas of the site throughout April and May, and would have drastically reduced the chances of fires causing issues (including harm to health) for residents for yet another summer.
The Council has already committed resources to the CPC solution, carrying out drone surveys and mapping with the London Fire Brigade to decide on the most effective spots to cover, and opening procurement to carry out the work.
Mr O'Donovan has also been involved in the CPC process, meeting with the Council (since May 2025) on a regular basis (including twice since the November 2025 public meeting), plus further site visits, with one only last week with representatives from potential companies that would have bid to carry out the CPC work.
Given Mr O'Donovan's failure to give permission for the Council to carry out the temporary works on the land, and that no detailed alternative works proposal has yet been submitted to bring an immediate halt to the suffering for residents, the local authority now has no choice but to continue to pursue legal action against the landowner as our only course of action to solve the Launders Lane crisis.
Havering will continue to consult legal experts to bring forward the remediation notice and force Mr O'Donovan to act and to deliver a definitive solution for the long-suffering residents of Rainham.
Over the past nine years of his ownership, the landowner has not conducted any drone surveys on his own land or any studies to bring a swift stop to the fires (whilst permanent arrangements are arranged).
Councillor Gillian Ford, Deputy Leader of Havering Council, said:
"I'm incredibly disappointed in Mr O'Donovan's conduct throughout this process.
"The fires at Launders Lane have been plaguing residents for far too long, and we put forward a practical, temporary solution to help contain the fires this summer and give them time to develop a permanent, long-term solution.
"We even offered to pay for it.
"And despite this, he's continued to drag his feet at every step of the way and at the eleventh hour has now not given permission for the Council to step in to provide a temporary solution to the fires.
"It is also almost as if the landowner has been deliberately running down the clock so that it is now too late for the Council to commission the CPC works on Arnold's Field.
"This is a clear message to the Rainham community that he holds no regard for the health and wellbeing of local residents and only cares about what's in his best interests and his own personal gain.
"The time for talking is over. We will now be pursuing legal action and will look to bring in environmental legal experts to ensure a successful case against Mr O'Donovan, DMC Services (Essex) and any other company owning parts of the site in question.
"Unfortunately, this could now go on for a number of years, and by blocking our proposal for a workable temporary solution, Mr O'Donovan continues to put the residents of Rainham in danger while we have to go through the courts to find a legal solution."
In addition to pursuing legal action against the landowner, Havering Council will also continue to call on the Government and the Greater London Authority for funding and support to expedite a legal solution for the people of Rainham.