13/05/2005 - A Lancashire
man, Nigel Isherwood, was fined £4,000
yesterday (Monday) and ordered to pay a further
£10,000 in costs after admitting to
using a farmland in Leigh to store waste illegally.
Richard Bradley, prosecuting for the Environment
Agency, told Wigan Magistrates’ Court how
in March 2003 the Agency received complaints
that waste was being kept in skips at a unit
at the Springbank Industrial Estate in Leigh.
Isherwood leases the unit from which he runs
his business - known under various names,
including Isherwood’s Car and Van Hire, Isherwood’s,
and Isherwood’s Car and Skip Hire.
Agency officers visited the site and saw
that skips full of waste, including brick,
concrete, stone, tarmac, turf, plastic, timber
and scrap metal, were being stored there.
Sometimes the skips were left on unsecured
land in front of the unit. Effectively, Isherwood
was using the site as an unlicensed waste
transfer station.
Anyone who wants to store waste in this way
must have a waste management licence. The
Environment Agency issues these licences,
which include conditions to make sure that
waste is stored safely and without harming
the environment. For example, licensed waste
sites would normally have to be kept secure
for safety reasons.
Officers explained to Isherwood why storing
waste like this is illegal and gave him the
opportunity to take it away and dispose of
it at a legitimate site. By May 2003 Isherwood
had still not cleared the site completely.
The Agency’s next step was to serve an enforcement
notice on Isherwood giving him 28 days to
get rid of the waste.
Isherwood cleared the waste, but more complaints
followed. Later in the year officers again
found full skips of waste on the site during
September 2003, giving the Agency no option
but to prosecute.
Isherwood also asked the court to take in
account when sentencing another offence, where
he had kept similar waste on farmland near
Leigh, next to a housing estate and a country
park, for almost six months in 2002.
Operating a waste site without a licence
meant that Isherwood was also avoiding licensing
fees. The Agency agrees with the court’s approach
that fines and costs should have the necessary
deterrent effect on operators who might be
tempted to undercut licensed competitors by
disregarding environmental legislation.
Notes
To help businesses comply with environmental
legislation, the Environment Agency can provide
information and advice. Businesses can call
the Agency’s general enquiry line, 08708 506
506, or visit www.netregs.co.uk
Nigel Isherwood, of Manchester Road, Leigh
pleaded guilty to the following charges:
Between 11 March 2003 and 25 May 2003 kept
controlled waste on land at Springbank Industrial
Estate, Liverpool Road, Platt Bridge, Wigan
other than under and in accordance with a
waste management licence, contrary to section
33(1)(b) and section 33(6) of the Environmental
Protection Act 11000. Fined £1,500
Between 3 September 2003 and 16 September
2003 kept controlled waste on land Springbank
Industrial Estate, Liverpool Road, Platt Bridge,
Wigan other than under and in accordance with
a waste management licence, contrary to section
33(1)(b) and section 33(6) of the Environmental
Protection Act 11000. Fined £2,500
Between 1 May 2002 and 10 October 2002 kept
controlled waste on land at Walmsley’s Farm,
Green Lane, Leigh other than under and in
accordance with a waste management licence,
contrary to section 33(1)(b) and section 33(6)
of the Environmental Protection Act 11000.
Taken into account in sentencing.
