{"id":136722,"date":"2025-11-15T18:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/136722\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:01:09","slug":"fly-tippers-dump-mountain-of-waste-in-oxfordshire-field-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/136722\/","title":{"rendered":"Fly-tippers dump \u2018mountain\u2019 of waste in Oxfordshire field | Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fly-tippers have dumped a \u201cmountain of illegal waste\u201d in Oxfordshire<\/a> so large that removing it could cost more than the local council\u2019s annual budget, the area\u2019s MP has said.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of tonnes of waste, stacked 10 metres high, appeared in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington. One charity called the huge dump of rubbish \u201can environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight\u201d.<\/p>\n

Calum Miller, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, told parliament the \u201cestimated cost of removal is greater than the entire annual budget of the local district council\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cCriminals have dumped a mountain of illegal waste weighing hundreds of tonnes in my constituency on a floodplain adjacent to the River Cherwell. The Environment Agency<\/a> said it has limited resources for enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends of the Thames said the illegal rubbish dump was created about a month ago by an organised crime group. It said no visible containment or mitigation measures appeared to be in place.<\/p>\n

The charity\u2019s chief executive, Laura Reineke, said: \u201cThis is an environmental catastrophe unfolding in plain sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mountain of waste has been allowed to build up just metres from the Rver Cherwell \u2013 an illegal landfill sitting on the floodplain of one of our most important waterways.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day that passes increases the risk of toxic runoff entering the river system, poisoning wildlife and threatening the health of the entire catchment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Environment Agency must act now, not in months or years \u2013 which is their usual reaction time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billy Burnell, a local angler who regularly fishes in the area, told<\/a> the BBC he noticed the pile in September. He said it was \u201chorrific\u201d and called the potential runoff into the river an \u201cenvironmental disaster waiting to happen\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anya Gleizer, a geography researcher at the University of Oxford, said: \u201cWhat we have on our hands, right now, is an environmental and health emergency that threatens not only the Cherwell River and its ecosystem, but also poses a direct risk to us: the communities living downstream from the dump-site,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an ecologist, river guardian, rower but also, more simply, as a mother of a child that enjoys splashing about and fishing for aquatic invertebrates, I have to emphasise that this crime has more far-reaching consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Environment Agency has obtained a court order to close the site to all public access for at least six months.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson said: \u201cSpecialist officers are investigating waste dumped near the A34 at Kidlington. Their role will be to find who left the waste there and take appropriate action.<\/p>\n

In a report released last month<\/a>, the Lords environment and climate change committee said organised crime gangs were illegally dumping millions of tonnes of waste across the countryside every year.<\/p>\n

The committee identified incompetence at the Environment Agency as a factor in the growing crisis.<\/p>\n

But Philip Duffy, the agency\u2019s chief executive, hit back, and said: \u201cI think it\u2019s very unfair on my hard-working staff to be accused of incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fly-tippers have dumped a \u201cmountain of illegal waste\u201d in Oxfordshire so large that removing it could cost more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-136722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}