Burnham orders clean-up of England’s worst illegal waste dumps

Illegal waste dumpers are facing a major new crackdown

Power Station Road on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent; Aymer Close in Runnymede, Surrey; and Midland Road in Bradford, West Yorkshire hold 22,000 tonnes of rubbish and will be assessed for clearance. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said that “toxic dumps have blighted communities for too long”.

The fines for waste offences will also rise. From £300, now offenders will pay £5,000, with the Environment Agency gaining powers to seize assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime. 

West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester will be the first areas to run mayor-led enforcement, while AI-powered drones detect dumping as it happens. 

It builds on a March action plan under Sir Keir Starmer, which earmarked sites in Wigan, Sheffield, Lancashire and Kidlington, with environmental clean-ups a recurring theme of Burnham’s first months in Downing Street.

The Government is promising action

"The days of making easy money out of waste are over. We’re giving authorities the powers to hunt down the people responsible. We will seize their assets and shut their operations down."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham

Environment Secretary Angela Eagle  said the government was “cleaning up sites” but also “stopping the cycle, driving faster prevention and disruption” as she will chair a new “waste crime crackdown group” bringing regulators and law enforcement together.

BBC reported that the opposition said that illegal dumps were a small part of a bigger problem mentioning smaller-scale fly-tipping and landfill as problems for the community. 

The problem is particularly close to home for Burnham, with one of the country’s most notorious illegal waste sites located in his Makerfield constituency. 

The site has reportedly been sitting there for more than 20 months, with the large build-up of rubbish now infested with rats. 

Locals told The Guardian that, despite previous promises, there has been little visible change since March. Burnham is expected to announce further details of the Government’s plans during a visit to a waste site in Yorkshire on Thursday.