Disgraceful! Inverness farmer blighted by brazen dumpers who tipped garden waste on farm road
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A farmer already forced to deal with a growing problem of litter on his land says his property has now been targeted by a brazen fly-tipper as well.
Kenneth Munro (71) owns Ashton Farm on the outskirts of Inverness, close to the Tesco Extra store at Stoneyfield.
Cameras caught the incident at 1pm on May 11 when a vehicle arrived at the property and dumped a load of wood chippings in the farm grounds.
The Courier reported in March how Mr Munro and his wife Carol were at the ends of their tethers due to problems with large gatherings, litter and dog walkers failing to behave respectfully while accessing the area, which is on the core path to Resaurie.
Then, Mrs Munro said, they were dealing with incidents of being shouted and sworn at after politely asking people to put their dog on a lead or clean up after themselves and had even had people defecating on their land.
Mr Munro said this latest incident has left them feeling completely powerless.
“We are a working farm and at the moment we are having to navigate around this large pile of garden waste,” he said.
“It is in the way, and I will have to go out and move it because I have cattle that need to be moved.
“It is disgraceful. I reported it to the police, but they said it was not their job to come and remove it. They said it was Sepa (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) or Highland Council.”
Local councillors Duncan Macpherson and Isabelle MacKenzie sympathised with the couple, visiting the farm themselves to see exactly what Mr Munro has to deal with.
Cllr Macpherson said: “I’ve just spoken to a community beats police officer and asked what the outcome would be if the same culprits drove up in their pick-up truck to the car park entrance to police headquarters or to Burnett Road police station in Inverness and deposited its full load of garden waste.
“Would the police simply phone Sepa as the culprit smiled and drove off, effectively putting two fingers up to our law enforcement authorities?
“The police officer explained that Sepa have the power to bring a charge forward to the procurator fiscal and impose a fine of up to £2000.
“We should maybe do a simple freedom of information request and establish just how many offenders get away scot-free, while causing upset and heartache for the decent law-abiding citizens on whose land they decide to deposit their waste.”
Police Scotland confirmed that the dumping of rubbish was a matter for Sepa and environmental health authorities.
Cameras at the farm managed to capture the registration number of the dumb dumpers, which has now also been passed to police.
Mr Munro believes they may have moved on to the Wick area.
READ: ‘Yobs are making my life hell’ says Inverness farmer after reports of antisocial behaviour
