The report, entitled ‘Environmentally Unfriendly', claimed that this had had a “devastating effect” on neighbours to the farm site, with extreme distress, aggravation and financial loss suffered by residents Mrs D and her son – whose real names were withheld to protect their anonymity.
The case was investigated jointly by the Parliamentary and Local Government Ombudsmen, which both scrutinise activities in their respective fields. The Ombudsmen then issued a joint report considering maladministration and injustice in the round.
Ann Abraham, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: “Our investigation found that the relevant authorities failed to take urgent or robust enforcement action, despite the very evident and unacceptable activities taking place on the neighbouring farm.”
Local Government Ombudsman, Anne Seex, said: “Anyone seeing the evidence of what happened on that land and of the devastation wrought on this beauty spot should be justifiably shocked and outraged that, despite all the legal safeguards in place, such events could actually happen.”
Apologise
The report explained that Mrs D and her son live in a green-belt area noted for its biological and archaeological heritage and their complaints about the damage the waste was having on the environment went unchecked for seven years.
And, the report said that the bodies had failed to work together on the issue despite a national protocol calling for a coordinated joint approach on waste enforcement.
It report recommended that the public bodies should write to the complainants to apologise for the failings outlined by the Ombudsmen and make good financial loss incurred by Mrs D and her son when they attempted to sell their property in 2005.
This was calculated at £35,000 following an independent evaluation and was coupled with an order to pay £60,000 in compensation for the disruption caused to the complainants.
In addition, the Ombudsmen called on the EA and Lancashire county council to establish a joint agreement for how they will work together to respond to illegal waste activities and then determine whether action is required, individually or jointly, to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
The public bodies have all accepted the Ombudsmen's recommendations.
Responses
Responding to the report, Lancashire county council and the Environment Agency said that they have committed themselves to working together when responding to illegal waste activities in the future. This includes developing a joint protocol to ensure that a robust and coordinated approach is applied in future.
Ged Fitzgerald, chief executive of Lancashire county council, said: “We could and should have done more to help these residents and apologise sincerely and unreservedly for what has happened. Their neighbour behaved in a very antisocial way and ignored numerous planning regulations and notices. But I fully accept that they should have received a much better service from all the organisations involved.”
The Environment Agency's North West regional director, Tony Dean, said: “The Environment Agency fully accepts the findings of this report. It is clear that we failed to meet our own high standards in this case and did not do enough to protect the complainants or the environment. We have apologised to the family and will pay the compensation proposed by the Ombudsman.
“Illegal waste dumping creates a blight and harms the environment. We take it very seriously. Today our record on tackling and prosecuting those who commit waste offences is excellent.”
Since the complaint was registered Rossendale council has succeeded in bringing an injunction against the neighbour and has had his HGV Operator's Licence revoked indefinitely. He is now believed to have moved away from the area.
Rossendale borough council chief executive, Helen Lockwood, said: “There is no excuse for the distress that they have suffered. We acknowledge mistakes were made by the three authorities involved and we apologise unreservedly for what has happened. We have made significant progress in supporting them since 2006 and procedures are now in place to avoid similar problems in the future.”
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