South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 19/05/2014

Ian Cundick, 30, of Bences Lane, Corsham was fined £2,250 and ordered to pay £1,097.60 costs at Northavon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 15 May following an investigation by South Gloucestershire Council’s Environmental Crime enforcement team.

The court heard that Mr Cundick had been transporting waste without the relevant waste transfer notes, and depositing and storing controlled waste at a site not licensed for that purpose. This ultimately led to the rubbish being fly tipped in South Gloucestershire by an unknown source.

Mr Cundick is the sole proprietor of a scrap metal and waste company trading under the name ‘Magic Rubbish Clearance’. In December 2013, Mr Cundick called at a family run garage and car sales business in Redland, Bristol and was paid to remove numerous black bin liners and other ancillary waste from the garage premises. Instead of disposing of the waste properly, Cundick stored it at a premises he had rented at Oakfield Industrial Estate, in Kingswood. These premises were then re-let early this year, with the stored rubbish still in place.

A case is also being brought against the tenant that took over the unit and disposed of the rubbish which was found fly tipped in Feltham Lane, Pucklechurch, South Gloucestershire and Uplands Lane, Keynsham, Bath & North East Somerset.

South Gloucestershire Council’s Environmental Protection Team Leader Chris Gillett said: “Legislation is in place to ensure that all people and companies producing, handling or disposing of waste do so properly. The Duty of Care requirement ensures a paper trail that follows the waste from the producer to the eventual place of disposal. Waste firms must ensure every load of waste they receive or pass to others is covered by a waste transfer note. The only exception is when they receive household waste directly from the householder who produced it, but they will need a waste transfer note when they pass that waste to someone else. This legislation is specifically designed to be a disincentive for fly tipping.

“Investigations are still be carried out to identify the people who were responsible for fly-tipping the waste. This sort of behaviour is not tolerated in South Gloucestershire.”

• Ask for a copy of the company’s waste carrier registration certificate and ask where the waste is being taken. Legitimate firms will be happy to provide this information.
• Check whether the waste carrier is registered by calling the Environment Agency on 08708 506506 or by checking on their website.
• Ask for a registered trading address and contact telephone number for the trader and get a receipt.