Farmer's fly-tipping fury (From Hampshire Chronicle)
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Farmer's fly-tipping fury
8:30am Tuesday 15th November 2011 in East Winchester
The carload of waste dumped on the Hensting Farm bridleway
A FARMER has rubbished the time it takes for fly-tipped waste to be removed from the countryside.
Winchester City Council has a target to clear small loads within 48 hours, but that is extended to 10 days for larger ones.
Greg Gregory of Hensting Farm near Owslebury came across a carload of waste last Thursday (November 10).
It was dumped on a bridleway running from his farm to Marwell Wildlife’s park.
The rubbish included car parts, general household waste and medicines including one bottle of prescription tranexamic acid. The drug is used to combat conditions that trigger blood loss, such as nose bleeds.
After Mr Gregory found the waste strewn across the bridleway he called the authorities.
He said: “The response was lukewarm to say the least. The council told me to double wrap the pills and put them in the bin.
“The police only said it was down to the council, and I pointed out the drugs, and the blocking of a public right of way, which would be their responsibility and they said they may clear the drugs. Needless to say nothing was done by either the council or the police.”
He added that farmers who dump rubbish can face fines of up to £50,000, and if he tried to clear it, he could become liable.
The job of collecting fly-tipped waste lies with the Landscape Group, which took over the contract from Serco last month (October).
A council spokeswoman said there was a 10-day target to clear larger loads.
“We will be getting it done just as soon as we can,” she said.
