Gloucester illegal waste site shut down
A court order is now in place prohibiting anyone from entering or importing waste onto a site at Severnside Farm, Gloucester.
As part of ongoing action to tackle waste crime and protect the environment at the site, a Restriction Order was obtained by the Environment Agency on 12 August and will last 6 months.
The court order follows a joint operation by the Environment Agency, Gloucester City Council and Gloucester Police on 22 – 23 July, when disruption activity at the site included the installation of 84 concrete blocks to prevent further waste from being illegally deposited.
With the Restriction Order now in place, it is a criminal offence for anyone to enter and dump waste on the site at any time. The Environment Agency will work with its partners to monitor the site and to take any further action necessary.
It urges anyone with information about these offences to report it to their incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Nick Green, Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency, said:
The criminals involved in dumping this waste have caused misery for the community and the environment. This order shows we are doing everything to stop the reckless illegal handling and disposal of waste.
Working with our partners we’ve shut down the site and secured it while criminal investigations continue.
This action comes as we ramp up efforts on waste crime across the country as part of our 10 Point Plan, which includes expanding the use of restriction notices and orders to prevent illegal dumping.
Communities are also our partners in this, acting as our eyes and ears. Reporting information to us as soon as possible means we can take swift action to intervene.
James Dykes, Enforcement and Regulation Manager at Gloucester City Council, said:
We are grateful to the Environment Agency for securing this Restriction Order and taking further legal action to protect the site following the Gloucester City Council led operation last month.
Illegal waste activity causes significant harm to local communities. We want to send a clear message that Gloucester City Council will not hesitate from taking robust and appropriate action against those responsible.
We will continue to work with our partners to identify offenders, disrupt illegal activity and protect our communities from this type of environmental damage.
Inspector James O’Neill from the Gloucester Neighbourhood Policing team said:
We are committed to working with partners such as Gloucester City Council and the Environment Agency to tackle the illegal dumping of waste.
We will take robust action against anyone who engages in illegal fly tipping as it blights our communities and presents health risks for residents, as well as creating significant cleaning costs for Public Services.
We are pleased that our joint working in this case is resulting in positive enforcement activity, and look forward to continuing this work in the future.