Northamptonshire’s managing director and a contractor have been convicted for illegally storing waste.
After receiving a report that Martyn Parratt of Newnham was operating on land adjacent to a busy road in Daventry, the Environment Agency twice investigated Parratt and the business he owns.
In June 2017, the Environment Agency received a complaint about waste that was dumped on the A361 at Badby.
Investigators who visited the site were met with insulation waste, mixed wood, and plasterboard. Parratt was asked to get a permit or stop using the material.
These warnings seemed to have worked, as Parratt had cleared the land almost completely by August. Parratt and the company did not have permission to do the work within the strict limits set by the Environment Agency in order to protect the area.
However, officers discovered a multitude of items that were not intended to be there when they returned to the scene in May 2019.
There was also builders waste, more wood and more plastic, and even a skip full o plasterboard. None of this was legal. Investigators also discovered two ovens, and a couple refrigerators that had been illegally removed.
Parratt, 60 years old, said fly-tippers were responsible for the ovens and fridges. Parratt said that his nephew James, also a builder was responsible for some of this new waste. Parratt senior admitted that his company had left some of the wood- and plastic waste by the roadside.
Martyn Parratt denied lighting any fire, despite those who investigated the case finding remnants of a flame under the rubbish. He said that the pair didn’t get on and hadn’t spoken to his nephew regarding clearing the site.
Paul Salter (Environment Agency waste crime officer) said that Parratt and his company were being investigated by Salter:
Parratts’ operations can be damaging in many ways. The potential or actual damage to the environment from storing outside of the law; unsightliness of piles of waste for communities; financial impact on businesses who follow rules, pay their bills and protect the planet.
Parratt and his company continued to dump waste onto the site despite warnings from Environment Agency. They eventually paid the price with fines of nearly 9,000 and costs.
Operators like Parratt have my message: Get a permit, get legally and stay legally.
It was only after increasing pressure from the Environment Agency that the land was made clear again. This was more than two years ago, after the first investigation into illegal activity on the site.
The Wellingborough magistrates’ court fined MJ Parratt and Son Ltd of Queensbridge Northampton, 3,500 and Martyn Parratt of The Green Newnham 1,467. Parratt and Parratt each paid 1,765.24 each for the Environment Agency’s costs.
The hearing on 18 Jan also awarded victim surcharges in the amounts of 170 and 146 to MJ Parratt and Son Ltd and to the managing director.
MJ Parratt and Son Ltd pleaded guilty in an earlier hearing to illegally dumping and storing hazardous waste, violating regulations 13 and 38 (1) (a), of the Environmental Permitting Regulations England and Wales 2016.
Parratt, as a director of the company, admitted that the business was operating illegally in violation of the same regulations.
Martyn Parratt claimed that his nephew had dumped some of the waste near the A361. The Environment Agency investigated. James Parratt, 32 years old, was issued a formal caution due to his violation of environmental law.