Double fly tipping leads to fine
Richard James Parker, 43, of Winters Way, Holmer Green, pleadedguilty at Wycombe Magistrates Court on 14 September 2016 to an offence of failing in his duty of care regarding waste.
The court heard that in early March 2016 similarfly tipping wasfound in two locations – off Gore Hill, Amersham andin Small Dean Lane, Wendover. The two deposits comprised identical ceramic tiles, an identical distinctive type ofhosepipe, and similar quantities of other household waste. Items within one ofthe waste depositswere traced to an address in Watford, where thehouseholder identified all the waste as having been removed from their property by Mr Parker.
When interviewed at a police station, Mr Parker denied dumping the waste. He explained that he had removed the waste from his client’s home address and had taken it to the Bucks County CouncilHousehold Recycling Centre at Chesham. He said that while he was at thesite, anothervisitor saw the tiles he was dumping and asked to have them.Mr Parker agreed, and although he was unable to explain why, said the stranger took thewhole consignment of wastefrom him along withthe tiles.
Mr Parkeradmitted he had not attempted to identify the man or to check his credentials. He conceded that he should have dealt with the waste himself and could not account for the fact that the tileswere not apparently wanted by the stranger at all but wereinstead deposited illegally by the roadside, alongwith the other waste.
The Magistrates fined Mr Parker £175, and ordered clean-up and prosecution costs to be paid in the sum of £1,025. A victim surcharge of £20 was also levied – making a total to pay of £1,220.
Cllr Mike Smith, Chairman of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: “The duty of care on waste holders requires individuals to take responsibility for what happens to their waste. For this reason we advise residents to take the details of waste carriers acting on their behalf. Assuming the good intentions of someone taking away your rubbish is not an excuse, as the result of this case clearly demonstrates.”
The case was prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire. The Waste Partnership launched the Illegal Dumping Costs campaign in November 2003 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. Since that date the Partnership has secured 545 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences. In total offenders have now been ordered to pay over £700,000 in fines and clean-up costs. On average since April 2010, there has been at least one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire. This has resulted in a halving of reported incidents and a significant saving to the Buckinghamshire tax payer over the period, principally through reducing removal and disposal costs.
We’ve made reporting fly-tipping easy: upload details including location and photos online or on your mobile at www.buckscc.gov.uk/fly