While this breath of fresh air is a small victory for locals, it still leaves the community with no answers.

It is hard to stomach the notion that people in Rutherford and surrounding areas still don’t know whether the disgusting odour in Maitland’s west is harmful to their health, where it came from and if it will come back.

If the answer can be found in the temporary closure of TrueGain, which residents say has coincided with the stink disappearing, then surely this is something that needs investigation. 

The odour was always reportedly worse on hotter days, so perhaps this period of clean air is simply a bit of false hope thanks to the cooler weather.

There has been false hope handed to residents before.

In 2014 the Environmental Protection Authority named an asphalt plant and wax converters ­as the dominant sources of odours coming from the Rutherford Industrial Estate.

There was a promise that the companies would work to stop the odour. Two years on and the stink only seems to be getting worse.

Now fate has handed residents a new hope. Perhaps the odour had been pouring out of the Truegain complex.

With the unexpected temporary closure of the site, the smell too has disappeared.

Without an investigation by an authority such as the EPA all of these suggestions and hypothesis are just words.

At the end of the day people like Ramona Cocco (pictured) are left in the middle, with no answers and no relief.

The smell spills into her home, makes her feel ill and at times is so pungent it is unbearable.

Ms Cocco has lived in the Rutherford area for more than 45 years and said the battle to find the source of the stink has at times been traumatic.

This story is just one of many from residents in the west.

With questions about the possible health issues of this smell it seems government agencies and companies should work quickly to find answers for those who are potentially affected, whether the impact is right now or 20 years down the track.

There may be no adverse health effects, but until we can be sure, surely more investigation needs to be done into the source of this foul stench.