Builder fails in his duty of care to dispose of waste properly

Connor Morling, 34, of Mcindoe Drive, Wendover, pleaded guilty at Wycombe Magistrates Court on 22 March 2019 to an offence of  failing in his duty of care for waste found dumped in Great Hampden.

The court heard that packaging and a pallet had been dumped in Glade Road, Great Hampden, on or before the 23 October 2018. The waste was traced to an address in Beaconsfield and the owner of the house named Mr Morling as carrying out work there and undertaking to dispose of the waste later found dumped.

Mr Morling was interviewed and admitted that he had carried out the work and taken the waste from the Beaconsfield address. He said that he had unloaded it at home and forgot to take it to the dump. Some time later a man came to his address and offered to take the waste away if he could also take some scrap metal that was also on the premises. Mr Morling agreed, but did not take any details that could identify the man.

Mr Morling was found to have failed in his duty of care to ensure the waste was disposed of properly. The Magistrates fined him £169 and ordered him to pay prosecution costs totalling £1,030 - making a total to pay of £1,199.  

Wycombe District Council Cabinet Member for Environment Julia Adey, speaking on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: "The building trade is the source of quite a lot of fly tipping in Bucks, and this is a reminder to builders that they have a duty to dispose of waste properly, getting full details of anyone they allow to carry it away. As in this case, failure to do so could lead to prosecution."

The case was prosecuted by Buckinghamshire County Council working on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire. The Waste Partnership launched the “SCRAP Fly-tipping” campaign in August 2018 to combat illegal dumping and waste management offences in Buckinghamshire. Since 2003 the Partnership has secured over 690 convictions against individuals and companies for illegal dumping and related offences. On average since April 2010, there has been at least one conviction per week for illegal dumping offences in Buckinghamshire. This resulted in a halving of reported incidents and a significant saving to the Buckinghamshire tax payer over the period, principally through reducing removal and disposal costs.

Illegal dumping can be reported at www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk.