5. The Waste Enforcement (England and Wales) Regulations 2018

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:22 pm on 6 March 2018.

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Photo of Mr Simon Thomas Mr Simon Thomas Plaid Cymru 4:22, 6 March 2018

(Translated)

Plaid Cymru will support the regulations and particularly welcome the new power that NRW will have to prevent the further use of an illegal site. Many people would be surprised that that power does not exist with that body by now to do that. Certainly, it will be a means of avoiding further pollution, and I welcome that.

I do have one question for the Minister in relation to these regulations. Clearly, any landowner who has allowed his or her land to be used for this illegal purpose should face a penalty where necessary, but there are examples of land that’s been used for the illegal depositing of waste, over a long period of time sometimes, without the knowledge of the landowner, and occasionally the landowner is excluded from the land. So, I just wanted to ask the Minister what kind of safeguards will there be in the system to ensure that someone who isn't aware that their land has been used for this purpose isn't caught up under these regulations.