A PARISH council in Cornwall has written to the Environment Agency and the area’s MP raising serious concerns about the impact of one of the country’s largest industrial waste crime sites.

A House of Lords committee revealed last October that one of the six largest illegal fly-tipping dumps in the UK was “near Camborne”. The cross-party Environment and Climate Change Committee called on the Government to get tough on serious and organised waste crime.

At the time, the Environment Agency said it was unable to share more information on the precise location of the criminal dumping ground because it required additional investigation. However, we can now reveal that the site – which is understood to stretch over 25 acres – is at Trevoole Moor, next to Pendarves Woods and between Troon, Crowan and Leedstown.

The dump is estimated to hold up to 50,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste (“inert construction waste” according to the Environment Agency) making it one of the largest illegal “supersites” in the UK.

A concerned member of the public raised the issue with Crowan Parish Council, which was initially unaware that the crime site was in its area. The resident told the council the dumping on dates back 20 years, with much of the area being filled, rolled, then flattened ready to be dumped on again.

The parish council has now written to both the Environment Agency and constituency MP Andrew George with its concerns about the environmental impact, demanding an urgent update on the current position.

The council told the Environment Agency that while it understands enforcement action can take a long time, the scale of this fly-tipping site and the length of time it has been operating mean action is long overdue and should be accelerated.

Mr George said the parish council believes the people behind the dump appear to have benefited from its remoteness and a lack of urgency/resources deployed by the Environment Agency, leading to an “absolutely enormous environmental problem”.

The Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives and West Cornwall, Mr George said he would raise the issue with the Environment Agency and ministers. “There have been a large number of scandalous cases around the country where this has occurred, and it is absolutely shocking that cowboys like these believe they can get away with it,” he said.

“It’s vital an example is made of people who flagrantly abuse the rest of society by polluting the countryside in this way. We need much stronger action and powerful enforcement, otherwise criminals like these will continue to take advantage of an extremely lax system.”

Mebyon Kernow councillor Loveday Jenkin raised the matter at a meeting of Cornwall Council’s community and wellbeing committee yesterday (Thursday, June 4).

She told committee members: “I have one of the illegal waste dumps in my division. I want to know how you are liaising with the Environment Agency about this, because as the local member I haven’t been involved at all. I’m concerned I don’t know if there’s any move towards cleaning this up.”

Cllr Thalia Marrington, the cabinet member for community safety and public health, verified the council is liaising with the Environment Agency about the Trevoole Moor site and other illegal flytipping locations. She confirmed the council is introducing a dedicated officer to focus on enforcement, purchasing additional cameras to aid enforcement action and developing a flytipping campaign.

Following the meeting, Cllr Jenkin told us that the site in her division is “a right mess and in a floodplain”. Pendarves Woods is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall and managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust, with Boswyn Stream running through it, leading to concerns about the spread of pollution.

The Environment Agency has verified that a criminal investigation is underway and nearing completion. A spokesperson said: “We have taken action to stop large-scale deposits of waste at the site, including issuing Illegal Waste Stop Letters to the landowner, hauliers and operator. Our investigation is nearing completion, and we will take strong action against perpetrators of waste crime.”