An Essex landowner has been ordered to pay £9,000 in fines and costs for allowing an illegal waste site to operate on her land, despite numerous warnings from the Environment Agency.
Karen Bennett, 63, knowingly permitted her tenant to operate an illegal waste site on one of her units on Bennett’s Industrial Estate in West Tilbury, Essex.
The Environment Agency said its officers visited the site, which had no environmental permit, numerous times between 9 December 2022 and 13 October 2023.
During these visits, piles of brick rubble, soils, plastic, wood and metal, including fridge freezers, were found on the site.
The Environment Agency said officers explained Bennett’s environmental responsibilities as a landowner and requested lease documentation from her which she did not provide.
However, Bennett continued to permit the operation of an illegal waste site on her land, including waste being burned and buried.
By imposing this sentence, the magistrates have demonstrated how seriously they viewed her behaviour.
Bennett’s tenant, Mark James, was sentenced on 12 January 2024 to 10 months’ imprisonment and told to pay a victim surcharge of £187.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, Solicitor Sarah Dunne told the court that “although Bennett had not carried out any of the waste activities herself, she had provided the land, continued to accept rent from James, and turned a blind eye to his offending”.
Bennett was sentenced at Basildon Magistrates Court on 6 November 2024.
During sentencing, the presiding magistrate told Bennett there was a “repeated failure to carry out things responsibly. You were reckless. You could have done a lot more”.
Commenting on the sentencing, Lesley Robertson, East Anglia Area Enforcement Team Leader, said: “Despite the Environment Agency outlining Bennett’s responsibilities as a landowner, she continued to permit the illegal deposit, storage and treatment of waste on her land without an environmental permit.
“Miss Bennett received payment from her tenant with little or no regard for the environment. By imposing this sentence, the magistrates have demonstrated how seriously they viewed her behaviour.”
