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Residents from Standish met with their local MP, Neil Turner on Friday to discuss their concerns about the impact of Broomfield Tip on their health.

The residents feel that they have not been kept fully informed since the fire was put out or reassured about the short and long term effects on their health from the Tip.

"The fire from the tip may be put out, but monitoring of the long term health effects is the key to ensuring that we fully understand the health consequences for all affected by the emissions from the Broomfield Tip fire. Our health matters." Gail Ann Bates, a member of the Broomfield Tip Residents' Focus Group.

They are urging action to be taken to investigate the ill health that residents have and are still suffering, which they believe are connected to the Tip. The launch of a Medical Health Register has been suggested as a matter of urgency, to record physical and psychological symptoms over a period of 10-20 years to fully understand the impacts of any health problems.

On behalf of the Focus Group, Mr Turner will be raising a list of questions with the Deputy Prime Minister, part of whose remit is environmental issues, The Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry.

He fully supports the frustrations of resident's regarding their concerns about long-term health. He will be contacting the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Primary Care Trust (PCT), as to why a voluntary Medical Health Register has not been set up, with funding for appropriately qualified clinicians.

Mr Turner told local radio station WISH FM:

"There are lessons to be learned from everything that goes wrong. It's important that we do learn those lessons, so that if there's another tip in Wigan or anywhere else in the country, local authorities can learn from the lessons we've got in Wigan, tackle it more effectively and more quickly than we did."

"I think we know that the decisions that were taken in good faith at the time, were probably not the right decisions, you know it's important as we say, that we do learn those lessons for the future."

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