Nation.Cymru staff
A man who dumped construction waste beside a mine access road has been given a community order and ordered to pay more than £1,100 in costs.
Two large piles of waste, consisting mainly of plasterboard and plaster, were discovered at the access road to Unity Mine in Cwmgwrach, Neath Port Talbot, following a report to the council in November 2024.
An investigation traced the waste to an address in Treherbert, where officers established that subcontractor Shane Richards had been hired to remove it.
Checks with Natural Resources Wales confirmed that the land did not have the required permit for the waste to be deposited there.
Richards was invited to several interviews in February 2025 but failed to attend or respond, the council said.
Richards, of Maerdy Road, Ferndale, appeared at Merthyr Magistrates’ Court on 2 October for sentencing over the fly-tipping offence and several unrelated shoplifting offences.
He received a 12-month community order, with supervision and a drug rehabilitation requirement lasting the same period.
He was also ordered to pay £1,016.97 in costs to Neath Port Talbot Council and £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Cllr Scott Jones, the council’s cabinet member for streetscene, said: “I would like to thank residents who report fly-tipping and encourage anyone who witnesses this kind of activity to continue providing information so we can take action against offenders.
“Fly-tipping is a serious environmental crime that damages our communities, harms the local environment and places an unnecessary burden on public resources.”
The council urged residents and businesses to use authorised waste carriers and ensure their waste is disposed of responsibly.
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