A woman who dumped demolition waste, including hazardous asbestos in a park has been fined more than £1,400.
Karen Goddard, 52, had her patio and garden shed demolished, however, the waste was subsequently found fly-tipped in a recreation ground, a court heard.
Goddard, from Aldershot , accepted that it was her responsibility to ensure that the waste was disposed of properly but said that she was unaware that the waste had been fly-tipped on council owned property.
She was fined £250, ordered to pay the council’s waste clearance and disposal costs of £1,125 and instructed to pay a victim surcharge of £30.
In a prosecution brought by Rushmoor Borough Council, Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard the offence occurred after Goddard had a patio and shed in her garden demolished.
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She asked a family friend to remove some of the waste and take it in a wheelbarrow to her sister’s house nearby, for use as hardcore for a new patio.
However, the waste, which included cement-bonded asbestos, bricks and concrete, was subsequently found fly-tipped in the council-owned Ainger Close Recreation Ground on May 13, 2017.
Goddard accepted that it was her responsibility to ensure that the waste was disposed of properly and that the person she had asked to remove the waste was not an authorised waste carrier.
She also admitted that she did not check what had happened to the waste after it was removed from her property, and until contacted by the council, was unaware that the construction waste had been fly-tipped in the recreation ground.
Magistrates told Goddard that they considered it a serious matter that the materials in the fly tip included asbestos and that it had been dumped in a public recreation ground.
Councillor Maurice Sheehan, Rushmoor Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Operational Services, said:
“This incident resulted in waste, some of it hazardous asbestos, being fly tipped in a public area.
This had a significant impact on both the environment and was a risk to public health. It also resulted in a large clean-up cost for the council.
All reports of fly-tipping are investigated and where we find evidence that an offence has been committed, we will not hesitate to take formal action.
It is essential that all householders ensure that waste is only taken away by an authorised person.”
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a legal duty of care on householders to take all reasonable measures to ensure that their waste is disposed of properly.