Three folks arrested after 1,200 tonnes of garbage dumped near nationwide park
A landowner who had 1,200 tonnes of rubbish fly-tipped on one of his sites fears he will be left bankrupt after being lumbered with a bill of up to £500,000 to clear it up.
A mixture of household, commercial and recycling waste was dumped at the spot, which is just a mile from the protected wetlands of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.
Peter Dive, who was away on business when the mounds of refuse were left there last year, warned underground water courses could be polluted as the stinking mound decomposes.
‘It’s almost a ticking timebomb. If it stays in there too long, it’s going to break down and start affecting the water,’ he told the BBC.
Mr Dive, 40, who bought the four-acre piece of ‘scrubland’ off the A143 at Stockton in Norfolk, in 2021 had been liaising with South Norfolk Council about building an eco-house there.
But his plans have been thrown into doubt as the clean-up bill of around half a million pounds will leave him ‘essentially bankrupt’.
‘Everything I have worked for has been wrecked,’ he said, adding he had put up gates and CCTV to protect the site but was ordered to remove them by planning officials.
He came across the ‘absolutely devastating’ sight last summer when he returned from a fortnight in Wales where he had been working on another renovation project.
Around 1,200 tonnes of rubbish was illegally dumped at the the site in Stockton, Norfolk, which is just a mile from the protected wetlands of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads
Among the waste were letters which were addressed to people in Bedfordshire – suggesting it had been transported more than 100 miles.
One recipient, Joshua Ballard, 34, said he remembered putting a letter about a medical appointment in his recycling bin.
‘I pay council tax for these types of things to be dealt with officially and properly. So yeah, it’s not great,’ he added.
Central Bedfordshire Council said household waste was ‘managed through licensed contractors and subject to strict regulatory controls and due diligence processes’.
A spokesman added: ‘The Environment Agency is conducting a criminal investigation into the illegal deposit of waste on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk. Central Bedfordshire Council is not subject to the Environment Agency’s investigation.
‘It is inappropriate to comment further while that investigation is ongoing.’
The Environment Agency confirmed an estimated 1,200 tonnes of mixed household, commercial and industrial waste had been transported to the site and described it as a ‘waste crime’.
It said three people had been arrested, interviewed and released under investigation while ‘several lines of inquiry [are] being pursued’.
The rubbish – which is believed to have come from Bedfordhire, over 100 miles away – was left at the spot in May last year
Landowner Peter Dive, 40, fears the £500,000 clean-up cost will bankrupt him and that underground water courses will be polluted as the rubbish decomposes
Fly-tipping had been increasing in recent years, the agency added, and it advised landowners to check their property on a regular basis and report offences immediately.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said: ‘Waste crime is a scourge on local communities and we understand how distressing and costly it can be for farmers and landowners.
‘We are committed to stamping out illegal waste dumping… boosting the Environment Agency’s enforcement capacity, with more officers, increased funding, and tougher sentences for those who break the law.’
South Norfolk Council said it had worked with Mr Dive on issues at the site and had not issued an enforcement notice over the security measures he installed there.
Earlier this week, it emerged that one of the largest illegal waste dumps in British history – containing 30,000 tonnes of rubbish – had been found just off the M57 in Kirkby, Merseyside.
It is thought that much of the waste was dumped there in November, when people noticed diggers working on the site without permission.
The six-foot-high high piles of junk are now emitting smoke and a ‘putrid’ smell.
The Kirkby site is one of 517 illegal dumps across England – at least 11 of which are classified as ‘super sites’ because they contain over 20,000 tonnes of waste.
A 500ft long and 20ft deep pile of hazardous rubbish dumped in a field next to the A34 and River Cherwell near Kidlington in Oxfordshire
Among them are a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall, and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.
The biggest ever in the UK was a 500ft long and 20ft deep pile of hazardous rubbish dumped in a field next to the A34 and River Cherwell near Kidlington in Oxfordshire.
Most illegal dump sites are situated in countryside locations, where they are hidden on what should be greenbelt land.
Police say they usually run by organised criminal gangs who make money charging significantly less than official operators to take and bury waste.
