Landowner 'helpless' after waste dumped on site

The owner of a patch of land where 30 tonnes of industrial waste has been dumped says he feels "helpless" to tackle the issue after being told it would cost £20,000 to clear.

The owner of the land in Salters Lane near Faversham in Kent said it had been broken into and waste dumped on multiple occasions, with locks being cut off the gates and replaced with new ones by those responsible.

He now says the lack of action to tackle fly-tipping on the former horse paddock has been "outrageous".

A spokesperson for Swale Borough Council said it "cannot spend public money to fix private gates or clear waste from a private property".

The landowner, who the BBC is not identifying due to fears he has for his safety, said: "It's dreadfully frustrating to see what was once a pretty patch of land turned into an eyesore.

"I feel helpless to stop it, and it's outrageous that no one is doing anything about it."

He also said that he feared the site could be "turning into another Hoads Wood", where more than 30,000 tonnes of household and construction waste was illegally dumped in 2023.

The landowner said issues on his Faversham site started in June, when he said his locks were changed to a combination lock for which he did not have the code.

He said dumping on the site had continued ever since, with mattresses, gas bottles and a caravan left on the land.

A private company has quoted him £20,000 to clear the site, which would include fees to test the waste for contaminants such as asbestos.

On top of the cost of replacing locks on the site, concrete blocks would need to be be installed at the entrances to the site in a bid to block fly-tippers from entering.

The owner added that, despite reporting the matter to the police, he had been told that issues of trespass were a civil matter.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said its environmental crime unit had investigated the site in August, and that Swale Borough Council was now investigating the matter.

A Swale Borough Council spokesperson says it is "working with partners to identify who is doing this", but that it is the "landowner's responsibility to secure their property".

They added: "We understand how difficult this situation is for the landowner. It is unacceptable that criminals are damaging their property to dump waste."

The council's spokesperson said: "We have advised the landowner on measures they can take to secure the site and prevent further fly-tipping.

"We will continue our investigations to identify those responsible, and we won't hesitate to take the appropriate legal action when we do."

Speaking to BBC South East about the issue, Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott said: "We need to prosecute more people for doing this and go after their assets."

A House of Lords report released in October found that serious waste crime was being "critically under-prioritised" and ordered a "root and branch" inquiry into how "endemic" waste crime was being tackled.

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