Landlord threatened with fine over someone else’s dumped rubbish

THE landlord of a property in Westbury High Street has rubbished Wiltshire Council’s attitude after he was threatened with a hefty fine if he didn’t get rid of illegally fly-tipped rubbish dumped outside his property.

Peter Smith who owns 13 High Street (Aimi’s Cafe and Takeaway on the ground floor) and the freehold for the flat above, told White Horse News, “Someone has dumped some rubbish on the land at the back between number 13 and 15 and now it’s being added to with other rubbish in a stairwell going to the flats above.

“I got a letter from Wiltshire Council saying I had received rubbish onto my land and have to remove it. It appears in Wiltshire that if someone dumps rubbish on your property illegally, it’s your problem.”

Peter, who is based in London and has owned the building for four years, said the rubbish  was reported to him by the cafe owners and he assumes it had been fly-tipped, with more being added on a regular basis. 

In a letter to Peter, Wiltshire Council’s enforcement team cited Section 33 – Environmental Protection Act 1990: illegal deposit of waste on land unlicensed to receive it, saying, “It has come to Wiltshire Council’s attention that a quantity of waste has been deposited in a stairwell at the rear of 13 High Street, Westbury.

“A Wiltshire Council environmental enforcement officer inspected the land on Friday 23rd April and took photographs.

“I would be grateful if you could arrange for the site to be cleared of waste within seven days of the date of this notice and for appropriate action taken to prevent a reoccurrence, ie, no fly tipping signage to be erected and monitoring of the site regarding fly tipped waste.”

When Peter contacted the council and spoke to an enforcement officer he was told he would be fined if the rubbish was not cleared.

Peter says, “The council’s policy is ridiculous. If rubbish is fly-tipped on the road, the council pay for it to be removed. Where I live, if rubbish is left, out the council take it.”

He added, “The land in question is a staircase which gives a right of access to eight or so flats above. The council have merely found me on land registry without regards to the leases and accused me of somehow ‘receiving’ the rubbish and therefore liable to a fine.

“But it seems this is a direct result of the council’s policy of waste disposal which encourages fly tipping.

“The council would rather spend time persecuting victims of fly-tipping than dealing with the illegal waste. What next, putting out our own fires or schooling our children?”

Wiltshire Council had not responded to our request for a comment by the time we went to press.