Salisbury landscape gardener fined for fly-tipping in Dorset
37 year old David Barney has been prosecuted by Dorset Council
A landscape gardener from Salisbury has been fined over £5,600 and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid for fly-tipping in Dorset.
37 year old David Barney, from Wiltshire Road, was found guilty of dumping soil, ground workings and green waste, on land at the former Askers Hotel near Dorchester, without an environmental permit.
The waste had been reported to Dorset Council by a member of the public in March 2021, with the caller witnessing the fly-tipping and providing a description.
While travelling on the A35, a Dorset Council officer going to the scene, spotted a van matching that description and found numerous loads of waste dumped at the site.
The officer also saw the vehicle with its rear load tipped up and the last part of a load of soil sliding out.
Upon approaching the driver, the individual introduced himself as ‘Dave’ and stated that he rents the site from the owner and had permission to deposit soil there, but he refused to provide his full name and address before the officer left.
Waste Enforcement officers investigated and found that no-one had the land owner’s permission to deposit waste on the Askers site and there was no environmental permit or waste exemption in place.
A follow-up enquiry with Dorset Police confirmed that the registered keeper of the vehicle was Mr Barney.
In April 2021, the officer attended Mr Barney’s home address to serve him with a requirement to be interviewed a few weeks later.
He did not show up to the interview or provide any reason for his non-attendance.
A month later, the team issued Mr Barney with a Fixed Penalty Notice for the offence of unauthorised deposition of waste.
Despite a final reminder letter being sent to the defendant in early June, to date no payment has been received.
Dorset Council took Mr Barney to court, where he was found guilty in absence, arrested and subsequently taken to Salisbury Magistrates’ Court.
Yesterday (Thursday 20 April 2023) he was sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with 150 hours unpaid work in the community, and ordered to pay full costs of £5,590 plus a victim surcharge of £95.
Cllr. Laura Beddow, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services, said:
“Once again, through the sterling efforts of our Waste Enforcement and Legal teams, we have secured another successful prosecution against a Dorset fly-tipper. On behalf of Dorset residents, I want to thank everyone involved in bringing this case to court.
“The fact that the defendant was operating under the guise of a legitimate landscaping business clearly shows their illegal activities were driven by profit, to get around waste transport and disposal costs. We appear to have caught them red-handed, but they still tried to ignore the consequences of their actions.
“When employing anyone to carry out work on your behalf that will produce some kind of waste, we would strongly urge everyone to ask how the rubbish will be disposed of and make sure you get the correct paperwork, including an invoice or receipt for the waste they’re taking, including their contact details."