Fine for man after 1,400kg of asbestos roofing was dumped in South Downs National Park

A MAN has been ordered to pay nearly £6,000 after rubbish from a property he was developing was dumped in the South Downs National Park.
Asbestos dumped in the South Downs National ParkAsbestos dumped in the South Downs National Park
Asbestos dumped in the South Downs National Park

Jeffrey Wickens, of Station Road, West Meon, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court in connection with the dumping of 1,400kg of asbestos cement roofing in a car park at Beacon Hill Nature Reserve near Warnford. He was accused of not ensuring that the waste was disposed of properly.

The reserve, within the national park, is a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI).

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The waste, fly-tipped on or before June 23 last year, came from a property being developed by Wickens who pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to ensure it had been transferred to an authorised person for disposal and failing to provide a written description of it.

Winchester City Council prosecuted Wickens for the offence and he was ordered to pay a £4,000, £1,863 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £170.

Meanwhile, in another case Winchester City Council successfully prosecuted Anthony Cross, of The Acorns, in Bursledon after he pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Magistrates Court to a fly-tipping offence.

The court heard how a quantity of paint cans, wood, metal, plastic sheeting, packaging and gardening waste had been deposited at Wheely Down Lane, Warnford, in the South Downs National Park on or before July, 18 2016.

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The waste entirely blocked the lane, preventing access by traffic.

Cross pleaded guilty to the offence on the basis that he allowed his vehicle to be used to deposit the waste.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and was ordered to pay £300 towards prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

Councillor Lisa Griffiths, Winchester City Council’s portfolio holder for community safety and neighbourhood services, said: ‘Winchester City Council means business when it comes to tackling those who have no regard for the environment and choose to fly-tip.

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‘We will wherever it is appropriate, prosecute those who we have evidence against.’

* An earlier version of this story stated that Jeffrey Wickens had dumped the asbestos. This is not correct. The two charges he pleaded guilty to were admitting breaching his duty of care in relation to the waste by failing to ensure that the waste had been transferred to an authorised person for disposal and by failing to provide a written description of the waste.

We apologise for the error and are happy to set the record straight.