Environmental Agency investigates waste dumping near Pirbright
Over five hundred people have signed a petition to stop the activities
The Environment Agency is investigating the dumping of waste near Pirbright.
Hundreds of people are demanding action to stop the longstanding dumping, which has not improved since the waste disposal authority, Surrey County Council (SCC), won a prosecution three years ago.
Last week, Guildford Borough Council evicted illegal occupiers from the site off Grange Road, on the edge of heathland on Pirbright Common.
Cllr Keith Witham, a member of both Surrey and Guildford councils, addressed the county council: “Residents have had to suffer the effects of dumping at the site, and burning causing noxious fumes blown across their homes and gardens in Pirbright for far too long.”
“The Environment Agency visited the alleged illegal waste site next to Stoney Castle Ranges last week and is currently working with partners to investigate activities and assess the environmental risk.
“This includes considering the options available to prevent future offending at the site.
“We will make decisions on the appropriate course of action once the investigation is complete.”
The Environment Agency gets involved in large-scale illegal dumping – more than a tipper load or 20 tonnes – or if there is at least 75 litres of hazardous waste that could damage the environment.
The Stoney Castle site, which by vehicle is accessible only through a locked barrier and gate, is next to a network of watercourses that feed into the Basingstoke Canal.
Unsubstantiated pictures of barrels of insulating oil have been circulated online.
If the waste is a threat to the environment or human health and the landowner does not respond, the EA may have the waste removed and take enforcement action.
Stoney Castle landowner Robin Hill lives in the Philippines. It was his son Daniel, who had previously been collecting his tenants’ rent for him, who in 2018 was fined when a Guildford Crown Court jury ruled he did not comply with an enforcement notice.
The notice from SCC had required the deposit of waste on the land designated for agriculture to stop, and all waste to be removed. There is no suggestion that Mr Hill himself dumped the rubbish.
Mr Hill, who appeared in the TV series Storage Hunters, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The judge said I didn’t take reasonable steps to prevent it.
“What should I have done? I’ve said to the council, please tell me.”
He said once court proceedings began his father’s remaining tenants stopped paying their rent and he was quoted £70,000 from a solicitor to get them removed.
He asked SCC to take action against the people occupying the land. “I want the authority to hold these people to account,” he said.
He was told the council would not take action against the occupiers.
It is the landowner’s responsibility to clear up the site, said SCC.
GBC last Monday (July 12) instructed illegal occupiers of Stoney Castle they had to leave and take their belongings with them, or they would be disposed of.
The borough council had issued notices, in 2013 and 2018, that included an order to stop all residential use of the land.
On Friday (July 16) GBC told the occupiers that as these had not complied with, the council would be entering to remove an unauthorised barn and caravans.
But there was no mention of removing the waste. As the waste collection authority, Guildford is responsible for the clearing of all waste illegally dumped on land it owns or on publicly accessible land, but it has no obligation to clear fly-tipped waste on private land like Stoney Castle.
A GBC spokesperson said: “Surrey County Council and the Environment Agency are responsible for the waste on this site.”
Cllr Witham said at Surrey council meeting on Tuesday (July 13): “I very much hope that on behalf of the residents of Pirbright, I urge this council to continue working in conjunction with others to get this dreadful burning and waste contamination stopped, the site secured, decontaminated, cleared up, put into good useful use and those responsible for what has been happening over many years brought to justice.”
An SCC spokesperson said: “The county council will review the situation on site and see what if any action it would be appropriate to take as waste planning authority.”
Mark Bray-Parry, Guildford’s Green Party spokesperson, said the EA should support the clean-up costs and also proposed a compulsory purchase order, but SCC council leader Tim Oliver said the council did not have the right to compulsory purchase the land.
Anyone with information about suspicious activity at Stoney Castle should report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or to the Environment Agency Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.