Environment agency accuses county's waste boss of illegal dumping

4:59pm Tuesday 13th November 2007

Comments (2)   Have your say »

WILTSHIRE County Council's portfolio holder for planning and waste Toby Sturgis illegally dumped 37 tonnes of asbestos on his farm in Great Somerford, according to the Environment Agency.

Coun Sturgis appeared at Chippenham Magistrates' Court today, flanked by his legal team, for the start of a two-day trial.

His barrister Peter Wadsley argued the case should have been thrown out for an abuse of process, as Coun Sturgis had phoned the Environment Agency helpline and was told it was legal to bury the hazardous material on an old, disused tip at Brook Farm.

The asbestos came from a group of three old barns that were being demolished. Coun Sturgis took it about a mile away to an old waste tip, by the railway, and covered it with a layer of clay and soil.

Syan Ventom, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said Coun Sturgis had not informed them he had sold those barns to a developer.

If the barns had an agricultural use, Coun Sturgis, as a farmer, would have been within his rights to bury the material on his land, but Mr Ventom argued the buildings fell into a residential category, as a result of the sale, prohibiting the dumping.

However, Mr Wadsley said, although they had been sold, the barns were still being used by Coun Sturgis for agricultural purposes.

Magistrates dismissed the abuse of process argument, on the grounds there were no transcripts of the phone calls.

Beginning the trial, Mr Ventom told the court: "The prosecution's case is Mr Sturgis failed to tell the Environment Agency that the land on which these barns were situated had been sold in December 2005 to a property developer.

"The barns were situated on land that was not agricultural farmland, it was a building site - it was a property development."

He said it should have been taken to a licensed, hazardous waste landfill site and should have written to the Environment Agency to ask if what he was planning was legal.

However, Mr Wadsley said: "The fact of the land being sold is entirely irrelevant. It's an absurd argument, with the greatest respect - it doesn't add up."

The court heard from environmental officer Guy Pluckwell, who investigated the case and interviewed Coun Sturgis.

The investigation began after an anonymous tip-off from a member of the public.

He told magistrates he had visited the farm and followed tracks to an area, where he discovered asbestos had been buried.

However, Mr Pluckwell was unable to confirm whether the barns were being used for agricultural purposes or not when he was at the farm.

Prosecution witness Andrew Brown, a director of Brown Excavations, carried out demolition work on the farm.

He stacked the asbestos from the barns in question for Coun Sturgis to remove. He said he would have charged £170 per tonne to dispose of the asbestos, which would have totalled £6,290.

But when asked by Mr Ventom if he had seen agricultural equipment in all three of the barns, Mr Brown admitted he had.

The trial continues.