Three men arrested after dumping 30000 tonnes of waste at Hoad’s Wood, an area of special scientific interest.
The wood is home to many birds, insects, and trees. Police arrested three guys. Two are from Sheppey, ages 44 and 62. The other one is 41 and from Sittingbourne. The Environment Agency talked to them all. They started looking into it last year.
Turns out, 30,000 tonnes of trash got dumped. It was like, 15 feet high in some spots. It was household and construction waste. Talk about a mess. Now, no one can go into the woods without permission.
A company will remove all the junk. They’re checking how the air and water are doing. This is to see if it caused any damage to the area. Simon Hawkins from the Agency is upset. He said it was just awful.
Such a thoughtless act with bad results for everyone. The Agency and police worked super hard on this. They want to catch all the criminals involved. A police sergeant agrees dumping trash harms Kent’s landscape. They want to help the Agency.
He also said these dumpers often do other bad things. People reported lots of trucks. Twenty to thirty were dumping daily in 2023. They reported things like this back in 2020, too. The trash piles are huge in photos.
The trash even covered some bluebells! Plus, the area had blue water all over. Several charities are helping. Groups such as Kent Wildlife and the Woodland Trust assist. Even Chris Packham supports it.
