Odour expert hired by housing developer detected fishy smells downwind of fish market

An odour expert has been commissioned by a housing developer to sniff a former boat yard site at Swansea Marina in south Wales to check for fishy whiffs.

The expert's sense of smell was assessed beforehand to make sure it was within a normal range - and no strong drinks or food were consumed the nights before the sniff tests were carried out. The tests were commissioned by applicant Waterstone Estates, which has resurrected plans for 50 flats, and one ground floor retail unit, at the site adjacent to Fishmarket Quay, which is home to Swansea Fish.



The professional sniffer carried out the majority of the tests downwind of Swansea Fish, including just after a delivery of seafood and when the premises's door was open. The odour report, submitted as part of the flats planning application to Swansea Council, said fishy smells were only detected "very close" to the western boundary of the site, and were only strong when the door of Swansea Fish was open.

The report said it judged the overall risk of odour impacts from Swansea Fish on future residents at the proposed development as "negligible". The tests were in response to one of the reasons that Swansea councillors gave for rejecting a previous, similar application for the site. Councillors were concerned that future residents might complain about fishy smells to environmental health officers.