Forage Aid founder hit by major fly-tipping incident
Fly-tipping on Andrew Ward's farm © Andrew Ward A Lincolnshire arable farmer has accused the government of failing to do enough to tackle fly-tipping in the countryside after his farm was targeted again by unscrupulous waste criminals.
Andrew Ward, who owns Roy Ward Farms at Glebe Farm in Leadenham, was sickened after finding four fresh loads of large-scale waste dumped on his farm.
The waste consists of two large piles of bricks, cut paving stones and other building detritus, which looks like the aftermath of a driveway clearance, one pile of hard waste and a final pile of household materials, including children’s toys, which resembles a garage clearance.
See also: What to do if you’re a victim of… fly-tipping
It is the second time in two-and-a-half years that the same part of his farm has been targeted with industrial-scale waste.
On that occasion, a lorry dumped a massive pile of waste, more than 12ft high in places, on the narrow rural lane in his village.
Crime in the countryside is out of control. @BBCLookNorth @itvcalendar @LincsRuralCrime@AlStewartOBE@GBNEWS pic.twitter.com/HfgOYuVN3S
— Andrew Ward 🇬🇧🚜 (@wheat_daddy) December 3, 2022
Mr Ward told Farmers Weekly: “The government is constantly telling us, as farmers, that we need to more for the environment, more for the countryside, make sure we have got clean water and air, etc.
“Farmers are being told they must leave the countryside in a better place for future generations. But when it comes to fly-tipping, they do not do anything about it.
“This sort of thing goes on all the time in the countryside – the MPs don’t care, government doesn’t care, the police and the councils don’t care.
© Andrew Ward
“Yet, we, the farmers, are the ones who must deal with it because they are not bothered at all.”
Mr Ward said stricter rules and increased costs relating to access to council-owned waste recycling centres meant more people were illegally dumping waste in the countryside to avoid disposal costs.
Tougher penalties needed
He called for magistrate and crown courts to hand out tougher penalties for those found guilty of fly-tipping offences to deter others from committing such acts.
On this occasion, the fly-tipped waste was dumped about a month ago. Mr Ward said his local council had agreed to come and remove the waste at taxpayers’ cost in the next week or fortnight.
However, under current legislation, it is the responsibility of the farmer to dispose of any fly-tipped waste dumped on private farmland.
Mr Ward, who farms 730ha near Sleaford, was awarded and MBE for services to farming resilience in 2014.
The father-of-two set up and co-ordinated the Forage Aid charity to help farmers hit by the the devastating winter floods in 2012 and the massive snowstorms in 2013.
The charity is still going strong today, providing vital forage supplies to UK livestock farmers hit by extreme weather events or natural disasters.
Fly-tipping epidemic
Clean Up Britain says fly-tipping is out of control and in a state of virtual unpunished anarchy in the UK.
It is lobbying government to take action on a series of measures to crack down on the illegal waste crime (see “Campaign group demands government takes action to tackle fly-tipping”).
John Read, founder of the non-governmental campaign group, said: “Clean Up Britain totally sympathises with Andrew Ward and, indeed, farmers across the country.
“Andrew is absolutely right – it’s appalling that our beautiful countryside is being desecrated by selfish, irresponsible and unscrupulous waste criminals.
“Britain is facing a fly-tipping epidemic and the law-abiding majority are sick of the weak and spineless so-called leadership of ministers and civil servants in Defra and the Ministry of Justice.
“Fly-tipping has been practically decriminalised across Britain, with fewer than one in 400 offences being prosecuted in the past decade.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “Fly-tipping is completely unacceptable and offenders face an on-the-spot fine of £400 or up to five years in prison if convicted in court.
“We are cracking down on fly-tipping in rural areas by recruiting more police officers and giving them additional powers to seize vehicles illegally transporting waste.
“We have also given extra funding and powers to the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime.
“In 2019-20 alone they have shut down 900 illegal waste sites, issued nearly £1m in fines, secured 28 prison sentences and created the Joint Unit for Waste Crime to target organised crime groups.”
Campaign group demands government takes action to tackle fly-tipping
Analysis of government figures by Clean Up Britain shows that just 0.23% of fly-tippers were prosecuted between 2012 and 2021, with 95% of offenders fined less than £1,000.
Yet taxpayers spent an eye-watering £483m clearing up fly-tipped waste between 2007 and 2017 – the most recent years for which figures are available.
Clean Up Britain is lobbying the UK government to introduce new measures to tackle the fly-tipping epidemic. These include:
- Cast-iron, non-negotiable guidance (to the courts) that any fly-tippers should face a minimum mandatory fine of £10,000, with repeat offenders and organisers of mass fly-tips facing £50,000 fines.
- Vehicles belonging to fly-tippers to be seized and sold to fund clean-ups and those found guilty to receive community sentences to clean up their own – and other – fly-tips. Old vehicles with negligible value should be crushed.
- The government to establish a central Fly-Tipping Prosecution Fund to use to finance prosecutions when – an independently appointed lawyer decides – there is a reasonably good chance of conviction. This will remove some of the jeopardy and risk for councils to prosecute.
- The government to establish a new category of criminal offence, which would be called Crimes Against Society. A conviction would see offenders automatically forfeit one or more privileges of being a good and responsible citizen, and would lose their driving licence, passport and any entitlement to local rates relief.