North Wales Planning Enforcement Task Force Formed to Tackle Illegal Waste Dumping and Unauthorised Settlements

A North Wales Planning Enforcement Task Force is being formed to take on illegal waste dumping and unauthorised settlements across Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire.
The plan has been revealed by Wrexham County Borough Council’s Lead Member for Strategic Planning and Public Protection Cllr Hugh Jones after recent incidents of illegal waste dumping and the occupation of land by travellers in Coedpoeth.
He said that the increasing number of incidents of unlicensed dumping of waste in particular was posing a challenge to every local authority.
“We are not alone in North Wales,” he said. “Authorities all over are experiencing a significant number of incidents of importation of wasted materials onto land.”
Just days after Wrexham’s Planning Committee received a performance report that revealed the average time it took for the authority to take positive enforcement action was 360 days – the national benchmark is 100 days – Cllr Jones revealed that Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire Councils will meet next week to discuss pooling their resources to set up a task force to try to get a grip of the issue.
“We’re in the process of setting up a regional task force,” said Cllr Jones.
“We’re working with our two neighbouring authorities and we have a meeting next month.
“We have also brought in an additional enforcement officer and an additional lawyer and are advertising for a permanent enforcement lead.
“Not every site is the same in terms of the legal requirements for enforcement so we work closely with Natural Resources Wales to determine which body is best to respond to that particular site.
“Each one is different and the law, the planning law in terms of enforcement is very complex. I wish it was more simple but it isn’t.”
Cllr Jones said that looking at situations like the one that is currently affecting the communities of Coedpoeth and Minera there are no simple solutions.
Currently there are two sites in the area. One on Nant Lais has been used as a waste dump before travellers moved on-site and now has an interim High Court injunction in place to stop unauthorised activity. The other is on Castle Road where dumping continues despite an NRW stop notice being served.
“People say, ‘why can’t you just go on the site and stop them’” said Cllr Jones. “We physically can’t do that. We have to use the law.
“If we put a stop notice down and that stop notice is breached  we can go to the High Court for an injunction – but then we’re in the hands of the timing of the court for any subsequent action.
“People think local authorities are responding slowly, but it’s down to how quickly we can get something in front of the courts.”
Wrexham Council Chief Executive Alwyn Jones said it was clear that swift action was needed to tackle the issue.
“I attended the meeting in Coedpoeth on Friday,” he said. “Clearly we’ve got to work as hard as we can to operate as fast as we can.
“Hugh is right however, it is a complex system. There’s a commitment here to put more resources into enforcement because actually this is a growing challenge. That’s not making excuses, it’s recognition.
“It’s also important to say if we take the wrong step, we then pay for it at a later point in terms of court proceedings or legal proceedings. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“There is a commitment here to try and strengthen what we’re doing.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

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By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​