{"id":513493,"date":"2026-04-05T01:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513493\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:56:20","slug":"prince-harrys-former-polo-club-in-pollution-row-after-it-bought-contaminated-soil-full-of-plastic-and-bricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513493\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry’s former polo club in pollution row after it bought contaminated soil full of plastic and bricks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prince Harry<\/a>‘s former polo club has become embroiled in a pollution row after bosses bought contaminated soil full of plastic and bricks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in Winkfield has dumped an estimated half a million cubic metres of dirt on its grounds since 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The move came as part of attempts by owners of the venue, which sits in the green belt, to turn grazing fields within its grounds into additional pitches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But some 13 years on, the transformations are not yet complete, with the compost still yet to be fully laid – and instead piled up in towering mounds several metres high.<\/p>\n

The club, which is considered one of the most prestigious of its kind in the UK, has long been a favourite haunt of Prince Harry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex played at the venue during the Sentebale Polo Cup in July 2018, a tournament raising money for the namesake African youth organisation he founded, which he walked away from last year amid a major row with bosses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recent photos show the huge heaps of earth at the club are also full of waste material, including bricks and plastic.<\/p>\n

Residents have now expressed fears this could contaminate existing soil on the site, which is home to several 200-year-old oak trees, The Times reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club (RCBPC) in Winkfield has dumped an estimated half a million cubic metres of dirt (pictured, containing waste material) on its grounds since 2013\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The venue, which is considered one of the most prestigious of its kind in the UK, has long been a favourite haunt of Prince Harry (pictured, at the Sentebale Polo Cup at the club in 2018)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Locals also complained about the road disruption caused by lorries transporting enormous loads of compost to the venue, which have also become an eyesore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One, who wished to remain anonymous, said<\/a>: ‘Many hectares of green belt land have been raised significantly higher than that granted under the planning permission with the increased risks and detriment to flooding, drainage and contamination to other land owners, families and residents.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Lead Local Flood Authority, the council body for managing flood risk, has also raised the alarm about the potential dangers of the development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials used lidar technology, which maps land using lasers, to find there was a ‘clear indication’ the move had increased flood risk to the site and its surroundings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The local authority initially demanded that the RCBPC removes the dumped dirt by January next year and level out the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bracknell Forest Council issued the enforcement notice after concluding the club had breached the conditions of its planning permission for the renovations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the council has now withdrawn the order after the venue submitted a new planning application for works to fix the issues created.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The proposal will see the original project scrapped, ending bosses’ hopes for a new high-goal polo pitch, for games at the most competitive level of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new plans instead include two practice pitches and a new wetland habitat – but no commitment to get rid of the dumped material.<\/p>\n

Bosses defended the decision by claiming taking the soil away would cause too much disruption to local roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A report commissioned by the club found more than 100,000 lorry movements would be needed to remove the dirt.<\/p>\n

One resident, who lives on a street near the venue, said they had seen firsthand ‘the destruction of our local roads and infrastructure’ caused by the aborted project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They told planning officials further ‘continuous invasive movement’ of heavy goods vehicles, which the new plans would still involve, would be unacceptable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joshua Reynolds, Liberal Democrat MP for Maidenhead, said he was ‘extremely concerned’ by the development, particularly the flood risk it poses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘This is a direct threat to the safety of the local community,’ he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an email to the council, Mr Reynolds claimed the club’s plans to fix the issues do not address their root cause, which was the unauthorised dumping of soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also said the proposed new wetland habitat could actually add to the flood risk to surrounding land.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for RCBPC said the pitches it had hoped to create were not yet finished as the contractor for the works had unexpectedly gone into administration.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The arrival of compost en masse came as part of attempts by owners of the venue, which sits in the green belt, to turn grazing fields within its grounds into additional pitches. Pictured: The club’s now waterlogged grounds\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"But <\/p>\n

But some 13 years on, the transformations are not yet complete, with the compost instead piled up in towering mounds several metres high. Residents have complained the earthworks could pose a major flood risk. Pictured: The club’s now waterlogged grounds\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex played at the venue during the Sentebale Polo Cup in July 2018, a tournament which raises money for the namesake African youth organisation. Pictured: Harry, with his wife Megan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, at the event\u00a0<\/p>\n

They also claimed a high-pressure gas main had been discovered on the site, which had put a stop to the development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said the unfinished land could not be accessed by horses or members of the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And they added the new proposed biodiversity improvements were greater than those included in the venue’s original planning application.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was also noted no objections to the club’s remediation plans had been raised at a local parish council meeting last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement, bosses said: ‘RCBPC are committed to completing the works to the land and working closely with the council.’<\/p>\n

The RCBPC has been contacted for comment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bought in 1985 by the music publisher Bryan Morrison, the club\u00a0has long been a favoured venue of Prince Harry, who is known for his love of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Duke of Sussex played at the venue for the Sentebale Polo Cup in July 2018, appearing alongside his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pair’s attendance at the event came just a month after their wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sentebale has now\u00a0dropped polo matches from its fundraising activities after Harry walked away from the board of trustees in a row over racism and bullying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The charity, which Harry set up in 2006, appeared to try to distance itself from the royal with the move, as the prince is personally fond of the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He resigned as patron of Sentebale in March last year after the new chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka, made a series of incendiary allegations about his behaviour.<\/p>\n

Polo events that he personally took part in have constituted a major source of the charity’s income.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup, as the fundraising tournament was known, raised some 18 per cent of the organisation’s funds in 2024.<\/p>\n

Harry walked away from the charity following a damning report into an explosive race row sparked by allegations made by Dr Chandauka<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The UK Charity Commission had launched a probe into the acrimonious boardroom battle \u2013 but criticised both sides in its findings.<\/p>\n

The probe said it could find ‘no evidence’ of ‘widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir’ at Sentebale.<\/p>\n

But it also criticised the trustees, who included Harry, who resigned en masse in March last year after the row was made public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Prince Harry‘s former polo club has become embroiled in a pollution row after bosses bought contaminated soil full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[97,1397,50,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-513493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}