OVER 380 odours have been recorded so far by residents in the borough of Ealing according to an odour observation app.

The OdourCollect App encourages citizens to use the 'power of your nose' to report smells in your neighbourhood.

Ealing Council have recently encouraged residents, particularly in Southall, to use the app to report smells.

However, the community group Clean Air for Southall and Hayes (CASH) have been promoting the app since 2019, to draw attention to persistent odours in the area.

Most of the odours are reported around the former Gasworks in Southall, now the major Southall Waterside development site by Berkley Group.

Persistent complaints of industrial and chemical smells have been made by residents since development started in 2017.

CASH campaigner and Southall resident Angela Fonso welcomed the Council adopting the app but felt more needed to be done to make it accessible and the data available to the public.

Fonso said: "There is a feeling that Ealing Council are not taking the situation seriously, that we are inhaling toxic gases from the Gasworks and we feel that they are failing us.

"It's important that residents have trust and confidence that their reports are being investigated because there is reporter fatigue going on."

She added: "People are frustrated and fed-up, they don't see the results of their complaints being dealt with, and that the Council are unable to determine it as being a statutory odour nuisance."

Angela stressed that promoting the app on social media and the council website did not go far enough to increase reach within Southall.

She encouraged the Council to do more to spread the word and reduce under reporting, for example through walkabouts and leafleting.

She said: "Southall is an area that is disadvantaged and multi-lingual, it's important that councillor officers speak the different community languages to explain how to download the app and about the alternative methods of reporting."

MP for Ealing Southall, Virendra Sharma will be going door to door to talk with residents about recording odours.

He hoped the app will simplify reporting for many and remove doubt about where odours were coming from.

Sharma said: "I am delighted that the Council has backed community calls for the app to be used as an official reporting channel.

"The air quality in Ealing Southall isn't good enough, and we need action to tackle it, that starts locally, but is also a national problem."

MP Sharma invited people in the area to attend his meeting about building a green future for the community, at 7pm 23 September.

Plaistow, Newham had the second most recorded odours in London on the app, at 43 reports, still well below Ealing.

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