28/04/2011

In a case brought by the Environment Agency, Peter Willes, the farmer behind the aborted Nocton mega-dairy in Lincolnshire, has been ordered to pay £23,190 in fines and costs for flouting environmental regulations.

Willes pleaded guilty to three environmental offences following a fire in which wastes including plastics, a fridge, tyres and light bulbs were burnt on his land near  Bideford, Devon. He also pleaded guilty to a fly tipping charge, a charge of causing slurry and milk to enter a stream and a further charge of allowing effluent to enter another stream last year.

Willes’ farm, which has a dairy herd of over 2,000 cattle and a cheese factory on site, has seen over £1 million being spent over the last two years to expand the herd. However, Sean McKay, the Environment Agency officer who investigated the pollution offences said, “No drainage survey was carried out when the dairy was expanded to identify risks and to divert water polluted with cattle faeces to the slurry tank. In addition, an enormous silage store had been built without complying with the guidelines. This had resulted in prolonged discharges of silage effluent and slurry to two separate streams, both of which were extensively affected.”

Willes’ Farm is situated in the Hartland area of North Devon, bordering the Tintagel-Marshland-Clovelly coast SAC and Marsland to Clovelly SSSI, and upstream of Beckland Woods, popular walking areas.

On January 30 last year, Sean McKay, then off-duty, noted that the stream bed in Beckland woods was thickly coated with algae, a symptom of pollution caused by nutrient enrichment. He also spotted a farm waste tip on the nearby farm managed by Peter Willes. Two days later, McKay was called to a fire at the farm and saw that waste on the tip site had been lit. A variety of hazardous wastes such as veterinary wastes, metal halide bulbs, strip lights, an upright fridge, tyres, plastics and fibreglass had been burnt.

The Environment Agency returned on February 11 2010 and discovered silage was leaking from the farm into another stream. Colonies of blood worms were present; a sign of prolonged pollution. Commenting on the pollution, McKay said, “Farmers must regularly check and maintain their slurry stores. Slurry must not be allowed to enter watercourses. It is highly toxic and dangerous to aquatic life. Although this incident had the potential to cause harm to the environment, fortunately, on this occasion, no long term harm occurred.”

Peter Willes was fined £19,500 and ordered to pay £4,190 costs by North Devon Magistrates after pleading guilty to causing polluting matter to enter controlled waters, an offence under the Water Resources Act 1991, and depositing controlled waste on land at Becklands Farm, Hartland, Devon, contrary to Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Nocton Dairies abandoned plans, first to build a dairy unit with a herd of 8,100, then a renewed application for 3,700 cows, at Nocton heath in Lincolnshire earlier this year after the group's application received massive opposition from the local community and a damning report from the regional Environment Agency.