Sunday, 24 Nov 2024

Travellers dump mountain of rubbish on 'new M&S and housing development' – and leave it for a MONTH

TRAVELLERS illegally dumped a mountain of rubbish on a site designated for 120 houses and a Marks and Spencer food store – and it’s still not been cleared up almost a month later.

They broke into the privately owned land in Stanmore, north-west London, on March 2 after removing a concrete bollard from an adjoining Lidl supermarket car park.


It’s thought six caravans were on the site – until they were removed six days later.

However they left a pile of rubbish, including gas canisters and builders’ waste, which has STILL not been cleared away.

The council is unable to get rid of the waste as it is on private land.

Local Tory MP Bob Blackman shared a photo of the rubbish at the Anmer Lodge site on Twitter.

He said: “The devastation at the Anmer Lodge site in Stanmore following disgraceful illegal dumping by travellers.

“The site is designated for much needed housing [where 120 social housing units are due to be built] and a Marks and Spencer food store.

“The contaminated waste will cost a fortune to clear from this privately owned land.”

One local told the MailOnline four puppies had been found in a cardboard box on the site.

'ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL'

An image posted on the ‘Inside Edgware’ Facebook page showed around 15 tonnes of waste on the site.

Resident Bryan Robinson wrote: “Absolutely disgraceful.”

Another, May Sharp-Lewis, said: “Oh my goodness. God knows what it will cost…it is so expensive to take rubbish to the tip.”

However Lynda Green said: “About time something was built on that land…no sympathy for the owner.”

A planning application was lodged with Harrow Council in 2014 to turn the plot – which was formerly the site of care home Anmer Lodge – into around 120 houses and a Marks and Spencer food store.

However owners Notting Hill Genesis have been slow to move the project forward, which has angered residents.

Harrow Council said they were powerless to do anything as it was privately owned land.

A spokesperson said: “We hate fly-tips just as much as our residents do. We aim to clear up fly-tips on public land within 48 hours at the latest, and we do everything we can to catch and punish those who criminally blight our beautiful borough.

“Unfortunately, we are powerless for both legal and financial reasons to take action by ourselves when the fly-tipping is on private land, such as this.

“However, we do stand ready to assist any Harrow landowner who wants our help, either cleaning up fly-tipping, or taking action to prevent it happening in the future."

A spokesperson for Notting Hill Genesis said: “We have not yet been able to have the site cleared. We are in the process of procuring a contractor to carry out the work.

“We liaised with the police on the matter. We then sought a possession order from the court, as is standard practice in these cases, which was enforced on March 8.

“We were notified of the trespassing on Monday, March 4, but we understand they had gained access on Saturday March 2.

“Approximately six vehicles were on site, but we do not know how many people were in each vehicle."






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