Concept Investments Limited and its director, Austin Fitzgerald, were sentenced at South Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court on 15 April 2026 after previously pleading guilty to waste offences.
Ben Hocking, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, commented on the case: “It’s clear that Fitzgerald and the company were well aware of what was happening on that land, and they repeatedly ignored our requests to stop operations and clear the waste.
“Waste criminals damage our communities and we are cracking down across the sector on those flouting the regulations.”
Illegal site leads to £20k penalties
The court heard that Concept Investments Limited, based on London Road in Sheffield, owned land known as the Former Stanley Works on Rutland Road, where illegal waste activity had been taking place.
Both the company and Fitzgerald admitted allowing the site to operate without the required environmental permit.
Concept Investments Limited was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £5,442 in costs.
Fitzgerald received a 12-month community order, including 140 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay £5,442 in costs along with a £114 victim surcharge.
In addition, Fitzgerald has been given until 18 May 2026 to clear the site. Failure to comply could see him brought back before the courts.
Ongoing non-compliance at Rutland Road site
The EA’s investigation began on 7 July 2022, when officers first visited the Rutland Road site and discovered significant quantities of mixed waste.
This included fridges and other electrical items, alongside inert materials such as soil and stones.
A follow-up visit later that year resulted in the site occupier being told that waste could not be stored without a permit. He was given six weeks to remove the material.
However, when officers returned in January 2023, they found that none of the waste had been cleared. Instead, further waste had been brought onto the site.
The Agency subsequently served a formal notice requiring clearance of the site by 5 June 2023. This notice was not complied with.
Despite repeated requests from regulators for waste to stop being deposited and for the site to be cleared, activity continued.
Further concerns were raised in late 2024 and early 2025, when complaints were received about waste being burned at the site. Sheffield City Council advised the operator to cease burning due to its impact on nearby residents.
In March 2025, Fitzgerald was interviewed under caution and confirmed that he regularly inspected the site.
A subsequent EA visit in April 2025 found that waste remained present.
The court also heard that another individual has been charged in connection with the site. He has pleaded not guilty to operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit, with a trial scheduled for February 2027.
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