<< News >> Three fined for dumping waste near an ancient monument at Bath
Submitted by coldrum on Thursday, 30 August 2007 Page Views: 5323
Site WatchCountry: England County: Somerset Type: HillfortInternal Links:
A landowner, one of his tenants and a local trader were ordered to pay £15,065 in fines and costs for illegally dumping huge amounts of waste on land designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The case was brought by the Environment Agency.
In March 2006, the Environment Agency became aware that a significant amount of waste was dumped on land at an ancient hillfort at Tunley, three miles south west of Bath.
This is close to Tunley Farm, where the farm buildings have been converted to business units, owned by Stephen Jones, who visits weekly from Wales to collect rent from the traders.
The waste consisted of construction and demolition waste including concrete, tarmac, bricks, blocks, subsoil, metal, fluorescent light tubes, electrical cable, asbestos sheets. Environment Officers also found larger items like an electric cooker, a metal three drawer filing cabinet and a wooden staircase.
A scheduled ancient monument is a nationally important site, given legal protection by inclusion on a list. Appropriate management is therefore essential to ensure that they survive in good condition.
An Environment Agency investigation revealed Stephen Jones had been responsible for depositing waste, and he had asked Donald Jones, who lived on the Tunley Estate, to manage the site on a day to day basis.
Stephen Jones admitted depositing waste, keeping waste and disposing of waste by burning and also said he knew the land was part of the scheduled ancient monument. He said that he was not aware of the scale of the problem.
X, who works in the waste trade, deposited waste at Tunley Farm under the impression that it was a properly licenced tip. This followed discussions with Don Jones, who lived near the site and kept an eye on it in Stephen Jones’ absence.
‘Stephen Jones made no attempt to prevent waste being deposited on the site and took no action to minimise or remove waste that had been dumped. Furthermore, he took insufficient action to stop further deposits of waste being made after numerous letters and a site meeting,‘ said Caz Lane for the Environment Agency.
‘The tipping occurred within the hillfort site. This may have damaged the ancient site, which is by its nature irreplaceable.’
Stephen Jones, was fined £9,200 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs by Bath Magistrates after he pleaded guilty to four offences of treating, depositing and disposing of controlled waste with no waste management licence on land at Tunley Hillfort contrary to Section 33 (1) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Jones, of Ynys-Y-Fro Farm, High Cross, Newport, Gwent, also admitted that in March 2006 he allowed tipping operations on a scheduled monument contrary to Section 2(1) of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Donald Jones, of Sidelands, Tunley Farm, Tunley, Bath, was fined £1,230 and ordered to pay costs of £400 after also pleading guilty to four offences under Section 33 and 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and one under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
X was fined £1,600 and costs of £635 after admitting two offences, involving the deposition of waste contrary to Section 33(1) and (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and failure to keep the necessary paperwork
Source: environment-agency.gov.uk.
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