Could living near plant nurseries affect my housing priority?

[Aurora1990]

Hi I am currently bidding every Thursday on buckshomexhoice. We are family of six, 4 kids under 10 years old in two bedroom house. We have been living in this house for 11 years. The problem with this house is, I recently got a comment from one of my friends when she visited us and made me really think. The house is located so close between two plant nurseries. They do work all the time from producing soil to companies to plants and so on. She commented that this could be an environmental risk for my kids for childhood cancers. That is terrifying. Can you please give me any advise regarding this. We can’t rent elsewhere as we need a big house and we can’t afford it at the moment. We are just waiting to be housed by the council as we already have a priority band b and bidding but it’s taking so long. Could this be a ground to be moved to and A bcos of where the house is located. Thanks a lot. Any insight will help.

What evidence do you have that living near a plant nursery causes childhood cancer?

By plant do you mean plants and not industrial places that are sometimes called plants (as in heavy plant crossing)?

If you mean garden centres or places that supply garden centres then no, living near these will not increase your chances of a new house as there would be no increased risk to health.

Composting causes childhood cancer? Seems a bit of a stretch to me.

I don’t have any evidence myself but reading online it says it’s a risk factor for childhood cancer living in proximity to plant nurseries. I have never thought about it until a friend commented. I can’t sleep now. She may have a point. Bcos our house is always full of dust. We hoover every single day without failing bcos it’s always full of dust. Even when we close the window most of the time. One of the plant center is next door we can see them work all day. My kids bedroom window is exactly next to where they dig everyday. Am really terrified. I didn’t think of cancer but now I’m so worried. What can I do about it?

I'm on my first coffee. I'm lost as to why plant nurseries might cause cancers or any other conditions?

Edit: cross post

Ok so that wouldn't be because of the compost, but if they use and spray lots of pesticides on the plants. So I'm not sure the digging is the worry.

I think the quick answer to your questions is - absolutely not, it is not going to affect the likelihood of you being given higher priority for council housing.
The house you’re in is it council owned? There are other houses nearby with people living in them? Even if not the sight must have been deemed safe to build on.
What your talking about sounds a bit like some kind of conspiracy theory.

From googling it says so. The nursery is next door. Nothing between us. That’s the problem. We are ok with the nose and occasionally really bad smell we
times even leave the house bcos we came to know the days they use really bad smelling fertilisers so we avoid to open windows or just go to park if it’s weekends on those days.

So what you’re actually asking is whether you can be moved to the top of the priority list for rehousing by the council because you read online that living near a plant nursery was an aggravated risk factor for childhood cancers?

no we are renting. And there’s not houses next to us it’s only us and the plant centers.

Yes I also had a quick Google and it does seem to be referring to the pesticides used. The soil itself isn’t going to be harmful.
It is worth noting that an ‘increased risk’ doesn’t make it ‘high risk’.
I would be very surprised if they move you up the priority list for this reason, but you can give it a try.

Also the rent is cheap compared to other places and we always felt very lucky. My friends used to be jealous of me living in it bcos my rent is significantly cheaper and our landlord never increased our rent from the day we rented. It’s bring 11 years not a penny increased. So this also makes me wonder. They also never visit the house to see if it’s fine. No visit from the landlord or the agency we rented the house through. It’s strange. Now thinking about this makes sense probably I don’t know.

I would never have thought about any risks, although looking it up does mention pesticides. Maybe you can ask for more information from the nurseries regarding their use if you're very worried?
Your house sounds very overcrowded, I would have thought that would be more of a case for getting rehoused.

I really hope so. We already have a priority band b bcos we have a non verbal autistic 9 year old. She sleeps with the other 3 in one room. It’s not a great condition but we are trying. We always come up 6_10 for ages. Loosing hope now.

But surely that was a choice? 6 people in a two bedroom house. She said they have been there for 11 years. Thry made themselves overcrowded.

I had two of my kids by surprise. I never thought I was pregnant so please don’t judge. We always wanted two. This is out of our control. Not everything can be controlled.

Children do not appear by surprise, having babies is very much within your control.

Yes that’s my question. Will this be a good ground to ask to be moved band bcos of the risk these places causes on top of being over crowded with an autistic child as well. I’m just so tired of this situation and feel stuck.

I imagine the risk would be a respiratory risk from the dust.

I think you raise a good point that there is not enough attention paid to the risks of housing being located alongside industrial activity.

When I was growing up a friend had a huge fright from a gas explosion in the middle of the night, when a workshop at the end of her street blew up. Thankfully no one was hurt but with windows breaking it was pretty dangerous.

Personally I would move. But having a large family makes that difficult, unless the council housing comes through for you. Gather some evidence and see what they say.

Is there anything that could be done in terms of putting up higher fencing or planting trees? Something like Russian Vine on trellis or chain link fencing would rapidly form a barrier. Or using ‘shade sails’ above your doors?

Absolutely. Blimey.

I’m not aware of any childhood cancer risk for nurseries but if it’s an industrial composting site ( windrow composting), then there is an increased risk of aspergillosis ( particularly for those who already have lung disease).

No it’s not if you’re religious.

Check the criteria for the banding. A is for people who are actually homeless in my area so B is the best you could get without being on the street or in a hostel.

Yes it is. Don’t have full sex if you refuse to use contraception and don’t want more kids.

It absolutely is. ‘Being religious’ is no excuse for behaving as though you’re a mindless baby making machine with no agency, especially if you’re already cramming four children into a two-bed house and can’t afford to rent elsewhere.

Even if you’re the most devout and doctrinaire of Catholics and won’t use ‘artificial’ birth control, you can use natural methods and avoid sex when fertile.