Scrapyard boss had 150 vehicles, but no waste management licence

William Noble received a Community Payback Order at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court which requires him to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work, to be carried out within nine months..

The 47-year old businessman admitted contravening Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The court wes told he kept dozens of scrap cars, car transporters and skips full of waste at the site near Kirkcaldy’s Victoria Hospital.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency had first inspected the site at the end of 2014, and found 149 cars, four car transporters and 16 skips as well as waste tyres and metals.

The number of vehicles and skips were seen to reduce on subsequent inspections but remained on site

A number of the cars had algae growing in the windscreens and plants sprouting through the tyres demonstrating that they were waste and clearly not road worthy: to keep them lawfully would have required a license and strict conditions to be met.

Officers from SEPA attended the site, at the junction of Denburn Road and Smeaton Road, on various occasions between December 3 2014 and August 19, 2015 to assess compliance with the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

During an inspection on the first date, they estimated that, despite Mr Noble not holding a waste management lcence for the site, he kept around 149 motor vehicles, four car transporters and 16 skips containing mixed wastes, waste tyres and waste metals.

SEPA served an enforcement notice on January 14, 2015 to remove the waste by the end of April that year.

However, SEPA officers witnessed that waste was still present, and on August 19, 2015 the number of motor vehicles had reduced to 35. In addition there were four car transporters, six skips of mixed wastes including green wastes, namely shrub and tree cuttings, cardboard, wood, plastics, soils, rubber, textiles and metals and four skips of waste tyres.

SEPA reported the matter to the Procurator Fiscal.

Judith Moore, SEPA unit manager for the Fife area, said: “William Noble would be required to have a Waste Management Licence in order to keep waste vehicles on site. However, Mr Noble stored vehicles at this site without the necessary infrastructure or procedures in place to protect the environment.

“There was a significant risk of vermin at the site due to the presence of skips containing mixed household waste, and a risk of further fires due to the presence of combustible material.

“The surrounding area including residential properties, he hospittal and any businesses could have been affected by the smoke and plumes resulting from any fires at the site.

“Despite SEPA having held discussions with Mr Noble, and taking enforcement action, he continued to illegally keep waste at the site. He has also undercut legitimate operators which have taken the steps necessary to store their waste properly.”