Bristol Evening Post
Editorial
When we first reported on the nightmare suffered by people living near the Ashley Waste Recycling Centre in Horfield, we called for an appropriate response from the city council. After all, its planning department handled the whole sorry saga appallingly.
It gave permission for the centre without taking account of the impact of noise levels, without any advice from experts in the field and without giving local residents the opportunity to oppose the development.
We said at the time - back in May 2006 - that the council must do all it could to help restore peace for the recycling centre's neighbours.
At that point, the council could have closed the company down or paid for it to move elsewhere.
In its comments today, the council makes no mention of either of those possibilities, so we must assume that it will merely continue with efforts to reduce noise levels.
Two residents, Sally Jones and Anne Tominey, have now each been paid £2,000 compensation.
So what now?
Council spokesman Simon Caplan says he expects it to "accept the Ombudsman's recommendations in full". But as Ombudsman Jerry White points out, the council could also take more formal action over the noise levels - and offer some sort of compensation to other residents who must have suffered similar problems to Mrs Jones and Miss Tominey.
As far as they are concerned, the fact that the officer involved left the council more than a year ago is of little consequence.
They had their lives turned upside down by his and the council's actions.