Fly-tipper fined £400 for dumping rubbish at New Forest beauty spot

A FLYTIPPER has been fined £400 after he was caught dumping waste and household rubbish at a New Forest beauty spot.

The offender was spotted by four witnesses tipping the waste, which included rubble, from a flat-bed van in the Forestry Commission’s Burbush car park near Burley on the evening of 25th October.

They alerted Hampshire Constabulary’s Country Watch team, which passed the details on to New Forest District Council and the authority tracked the man down.

He admitted the offence before he was due to be interviewed by the council’s enforcement team and police, and was issued with a Section 5 notice for not having a waste carrier's licence.

NFDC, which has not named the man publicly, added the offence took some time to deal with because the culprit left the country for a few weeks after it happened.

Cllr Alison Hoare, the council’s cabinet member for Environment and Regulatory Services, said: “Illegally dumping waste in the New Forest damages our environment and poses a risk to people and wildlife, and we will not tolerate it.

“I am pleased that, by working with the police's Country Watch team and the Forestry Commission, we have been able to identify the person responsible in this case. I would ask that anyone seeing any activity that they suspect may be fly tipping to report it to us.”

She went on: “I also urge all businesses and householders to check that the company or individual who is offering to take their waste has a waste carrier's licence.

“This can be checked on the Environment Agency's waste carrier register, accessible through gov.uk. If they do not have a licence, do not use them.”

Bruce Rothnie, The Forestry Commission’s Deputy Surveyor for the New Forest, added: “The New Forest is a spectacular place and keeping it free of litter is just one way that people can help to protect it.

“This recent incident is another example of the lack of respect some people have for the Forest, its residents and rare wildlife.

“The scale and cost of removing fly-tips such as the one at Burbush car park is considerable, but our funds are limited – we would much rather prioritise the Forestry Commission’s local budget on managing the open forest habitats, the woodlands, and the facilities here in the New Forest.”

A leading suggested fly-tipping is on the increase because of changes being made to household waste recycling centres.

Cllr David Harrison – the Liberal Democrat leader on New Forest District Council and a Hampshire county councillor – spoke out after rubbish was also found dumped at Longdown car park in Longdown inclosure near Ashurst.

He said “barely a week goes by” without a fly-tipping incident locally, adding: “Sometimes the tipping is done by criminal gangs who collect waste with no intention of disposing of it legally. On some occasions, it can even be waste from a house that was used as a cannabis factory.

“What is certain is that the official figures for fly-tipping understate the scale of the problem. A lot of tipping occurs on privately owned land and is never actually recorded.

“I think it is generally true that the harder you make it for people to use the household waste recycling centres and imposing charges, the more it will happen,” Cllr Harrison added.

His comments are aimed at changes made at the facilities, which are run by Hampshire County Council.

The authority previously mooted shutting some, but after an outcry backed down.

However, over the past 18 months it has cut HWRC opening hours and introduced charges for dumping certain types of rubbish, such as DIY construction waste.

The waste was dumped on Forestry Commission land and has been removed.

An FC spokesperson said: “This recent incident is another example of the lack of respect some people have for the New Forest, its residents and wildlife. Working together, the Forestry Commission and the local authorities investigate fly-tips in an effort to trace it back to the offenders.

“Householders and businesses need to be aware of their own responsibilities for making sure their waste is disposed of properly and check the person they are using is licensed to do so. This can be easily checked on the Environment Agency website.”

Fly tipping can be reported to NFDC at www.newforest.gov.uk, to customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk or by calling 023 8028 5000.