Incident on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm initiates talks about fly-tipping
A fly-tipping incident that recently happened on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm has triggered debate on how to tackle an issue that affects many farmers in the area.
The star of Clarkson’s Farm said that a stranger left a “mountain of waste” on one of his fields at Diddly Squat Farm.
He shared his frustration in the column for The Times: “A b*****d has been in the night. He broke a padlocked gate and fly-tipped a small mountain of household waste in one of my fields.
“Hubcaps, an old trampoline, assorted bin bags and various soft porn DVDs. You know the sort of thing.
“It’s so annoying. If he’d dumped it at the side of the road it would have been the council’s job to sit around thinking of excuses for not clearing it up. But he didn’t. He dumped it on my land, so the responsibility was mine.”
Mr Clarkson was then forced to pay £250 for a skip and clean up the mess at his Chipping Norton farm himself.
Not enough resources
Following this incident, farmers across the region also spoke up, saying that the fly-tipping issue had been bothering them for a long time.
West Oxfordshire District Council was criticised for not having enough resources to fight the problem. The council employs only one person to tackle fly-tipping prevention across the vast district.
Despite governmental efforts to increase the fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping, the prevalence of illegal dumping persists.
According to West Oxfordshire District Council, the county faced 1,100 fly-tipping incidents between October 2022 and September 2023, with clean-up costs exceeding £20,000.
This financial burden underlines the urgent need to introduce more effective measures to fight the issue and hold fly tippers accountable.
Unfair for farmers
Talking to the Oxford Mail, councillor Dean Temple, who represents Chadlington and Churchill, said: “I think from an ethical perspective, it does seem unfair that farmers are having to waste their time and resources to clear up the mess left by thoughtless and callous individuals.
“I do believe that the local authorities should take into account all the problems facing farmers in the local area. They are the backbone of our community and for too long have been seen by many in power as an inconvenience.”
Enough is enough
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, added: “It is time for the public and our justice system to say ‘enough is enough’ and tackle the selfish vandals who are trashing our environment for profit.
“The public can play their part by ensuring that they only give their unwanted ‘stuff’ to reputable, licensed waste carriers who will dispose of it correctly and the courts must help by using the considerable sentencing powers they have order hefty fines and even jail ‘professional fly-tippers’ when they are caught. ”
A West Oxfordshire District Council spokesman said that fly-tipping is a “blight” on the beautiful district. They added: “We take enforcement very seriously, which is why we have agreed to increase the amount people can be fined in West Oxfordshire.”
Increased penalty
To help councils clamp down on waste crime, the government has laid a statutory instrument increasing the upper limits for various fixed penalty notices (FPNs) which means:
The maximum amount those caught fly-tipping could be fined increases from £400 to £1,000
The maximum amount those who litter or graffiti could be fined increases from £150 to £500
The maximum amount those who breach their household waste duty of care could be fined increases from £400 to £600
