Quarter landowner fined over waste offences

Jun 2 2011 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A HAMILTON businesswoman was fined last week after she admitted breaching waste management regulations two years ago.

Officers from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) began to investigate Marina Sharples after dozens of people complained about material dumped on land she owned near Quarter.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court in April, Sharples pleaded guilty to a breach of the Environmental Protection Act, 2009.

Between February 1 and February 17 that year, the 42-year-old failed to remove a quantity of waste materials from land at the junction of Carscallan Road and Broomelton Road, near Quarter.

This happened despite Sharples – of Fairhill’s Dean Crescent – being served a notice by SEPA requiring her to remove the waste.

The materials included soils, brick, rubble, stone, wood, plastic, metals, glass, paper, cardboard, gas bottles, motor vehicles and oil.

In a separate court case earlier this year, her son, Thomas Sharples, admitted treating materials at the site without a proper waste management licence.

Officers from SEPA first became aware of the site after receiving a large number of complaints from the public.

The agency gave both verbal and written advice to Marina Sharples, who occupied the site, regarding the requirements of the waste management licensing regime.

She was also warned in writing of the possible consequences of failing to comply with the legislation.

However, she took no action. The site has never held a waste management licence, nor any exemption from the requirement to hold one.

On December 10, 2008, SEPA officers hand-delivered an enforcement notice requiring the removal of all the controlled waste on the site by January 31, 2009.

But a follow-up investigation confirmed that the waste was still present and SEPA reported the matter to the Procurator Fiscal.

Ed Turner, SEPA’s investigating officer, said: “Controlled waste has a detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the area and can cause contamination of the ground and ground water.

“If burnt, controlled waste can also release dangerous compounds into the air.

“The accused received written and verbal advice, over a long period of time, on how to comply with the legislation.

“All communications from us, including the statutory enforcement notice, was ignored.

“We had received over 46 complaints from members of the public. It is very rare for us to receive so many complaints about one site.”

At Hamilton Sheriff Court last week, Marina Sharples was fined £300.

The sum will be paid at the rate of £10 per fortnight.