Operation to clean up 30,000 tonnes of waste dumped in woods gets under way

Clean-up workers with lorries have begun the task of removing a huge amount of harmful waste which was dumped illegally in woods in Kent.

The operation, co-ordinated by the Environment Agency, will see 30,000 tonnes of hazardous and harmful waste removed from Hoad’s Wood in Ashford, Kent, over the next year.

The 2023 dumping of the waste, which is piled up to 15ft high in some places, has been linked to organised crime.

Much of the dumped material had already been through a mechanical treatment process and there were “pockets of hazardous waste” amongst it, the Environment Agency said.

The work is expected to take contractors a year to carry out / Credit: Environment Agency/PA

Three arrests were made in February this year in relation to the illegal dumping and the Environment Agency said they were pursuing a “significant number” of lines of inquiry as their criminal investigation continues.

This week, the first lorries were loaded with the household and construction waste at the site in Ashford, to be taken to safe disposal facilities.

Emma Viner, enforcement and investigations manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Today marks an important step in the journey of bringing Hoad’s Wood back as a sanctuary for both wildlife and people.”

The clean-up operation is reportedly expected to cost up to £15 million.

Hoad’s Wood has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest by Natural England and is home to rare plants and wildlife which may struggle to recover after the waste is removed.

Ian Rickards, area manager at Kent Wildlife Trust, told the PA news agency: “The habitat that’s there is destroyed and lost but … it is possible to create a habitat within there which will work with the woodland and have some benefit to wildlife.”

So far 170 trees have had to be cut down because of the polluted soil at the site.

Mr Rickards said that buzzards, foxes, badgers and deer, along with fungi, wild flowers and invertebrates, have all suffered from the illegal dumping.

The clean-up operation is reportedly expected to cost up to £15 million / Credit: Environment Agency/PA

He continued: “There’s only one direction to go really from this, you can’t … it shouldn’t really be able to get any worse, hopefully lessons have been learnt because what would (be) worse is if this happens somewhere else.”

Nature minister Mary Creagh said the Government is “determined” to crack down on waste criminals.

The lorries which began their work this week are likely to keep running until Christmas.

After Christmas, the Environment Agency and contracted waste services company, Acumen, will assess how much of the perimeter of the site has also been damaged.

There was concern amongst workers as to what will happen to the site when the clean-up is finished and the agency’s court order allowing them to control the site expires.

Ms Viner said: “The Environment Agency aren’t the landowners here at Hoad’s Wood but we are supporting conversations between different parties to look at the future.

“So, we’re not just going to walk away, we are involved in supporting those conversations and will be going forward.”

Mr Rickards said he was concerned that the Environment Agency could walk away from the site without setting a clear path for its future.

“I’m hoping the Environment Agency and the other agencies’ goal here is to restore this woodland as best as possible,” he said.