Magistrates this week ordered an Ipswich man to pay a £200 fine and £300 costs after waste he removed from a house was dumped in two locations in Babergh.
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Matthew Lister, 38, of Sorrell Close, Ipswich, was ordered to pay a fine of £200, costs of £300 and a victim surcharge of £20, after he pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that waste in his possession had been given to people authorised to take it.
The case was heard at Ipswich Magistrates’ Courts on October 29, 2013.
In September 2012 Mr Lister, who normally works as a window cleaner, had been asked to help renovate a house in Bucklesham, Ipswich, which belonged to a friend’s Grandmother as he owned a van.
Part of the work included clearing the house of four van loads of waste and dismantling and removing an old caravan. Mr Lister was paid £175, specifically for these jobs. A further bonus was paid on completion of the job, by his friend’s relation, who made the payment in the belief that Mr Lister had been out-of-pocket due to disposal costs.
Mr Lister explained that he had brought the waste back to his home address and emptied it into his garden so that he could continue to use the van. He stated that he had intended to take the waste to the household Waste Site, but that some “unknown men” had come to his house and offered to remove the waste for free in exchange for being able to keep any metal contained within it. Mr Lister agreed to this without asking for proof that the men were registered with the Environment Agency to carry waste and without asking where the waste would be taken, or for a waste transfer note.
A large amount of waste was found dumped off the A137 at Tattingstone on 24th September 2012 and a further load, including the remains of the caravan, was found between Belstead and Wherstead on 28 September 2012.
Items of correspondence addressed to the property which Mr. Lister had been working on were found in both loads of waste. Having cleared the waste, which took operatives three hours, Mr Lister was traced by Babergh District Council enforcement officers after making enquiries at the now vacant property in Bucklesham, Ipswich, and speaking to the relation who had commissioned the work.
James Buckingham, Corporate Manager – Environmental Protection at Babergh District Council, said: “Although Mr Lister did not dump the waste himself, his failure to make basic checks as to whether the men he gave the waste to were properly licensed resulted in the waste being dumped and the significant clean-up costs totalling £230, being footed by Babergh taxpayers.
“This is totally unacceptable and we will not hesitate to take action in such cases.
“Mr Lister was not a licensed waste carrier and so should not have been involved in taking the waste in the first place. Had he been properly licensed he would have been aware of his legal obligations.
“In deciding to prosecute Mr Lister we were particularly mindful of the fact that he had been paid £175 specifically for removing and disposing of the waste, when in reality he incurred no disposal costs whatsoever.
“We are pleased with the Magistrates’ decision which, even including credit for his guilty plea, has resulted in him being fined more than he was paid, and being made to repay the Council’s costs. This was a costly mistake on Mr Lister’s part. Had he made a few simple checks before handing over the waste, as per his legal obligations, it would not have ended up being fly-tipped.”
Along with the other Suffolk councils, Babergh is currently part of a national pilot project on reducing fly-tipping, which includes ensuring businesses and residents understand their legal ‘duty of care’ in respect to waste, checking waste carriers, and promoting enforcement.
There were 224 incidents of fly-tipping in the Babergh district in 2012/13, which cost over £13,000 to clear, a cost met by taxpayers.
