Hero cleans up river and gets ?480 bill

[gmb45]

unbelievable !

A VOLUNTEER who hauled 120 tyres out of a polluted river has been told to pay ?480 to get rid of them.

Both council and environmental officers have refused to accept responsibility for the rubbish. And Roy Hart, 63, was told it will cost him ?4 for each one to be legally disposed off.

Farmer Roy, a keen angler, and three volunteers acted after seeing dead fish in the polluted River Crouch at a park in Wickford, Essex. He got permission to act from the Environment Agency and Basildon Council.

But afterwards Agency officials said the tyres were the responsibility of the land owner - the council.

But the council argued it was a "pollution control" matter for the Agency. Mr Hart, a parish councillor, now has a mountain of tyres outside his home in Battlesbridge. He said: "I'm being punished for showing community spirit."

Agency chief Peter Rickett claimed Mr Hart did not ensure the council would take the rubbish. He added: "We are only responsible for clearing rivers if there is a flood risk.

[davieboy.rfc]

poor bastard he would probably get charged if he threw the tyres back in the river .but seriously the council should be givin this man a pat on the back for his efforts & take the stuff away.

[Raven]

That's disgusting, I make no wonder this country's a shit hole when the authorities are deflecting responsibility onto each other regarding pickup and disposal, let alone when the environmental cleanup itself is left to kind hearted folks like this to put the effort in - but to then try to charge him for his efforts - this country's authorities are all take, take, take - if it doesn't involve money they don't give a f*ck and it's totally disgusting! It's right this man should be given a medal for his efforts not be charged for waste disposal.

If it was me, I'd set fire to the tires outside the offices in question and tell them it's their responsibility now, but then that would cause more damage to the environment and I'd probably be arrested and of course fined for arson - but seriously if the authority in question leaves stuff like this in rivers knowing they are causing environmental damage but to then try to charge for disposal and not reward good citizens who show initiative - is that not grounds for those authorities basically litering at least ? It's like anything, hypothetically (especially for authorities on the subject) you can tell people to put dispose of rubbish but then if you don't pick rubbish up and dispose of it when you come across it as in this case with the tires then what example are you setting ? I think that office should be reported. They should be liable to some form of punishment for this as there's got to be a law against it, and if there isn't then there bloody well should be!

I don't know about you, but I for one am getting pig sick of this 1 dimensional government. It's all about money....and that's why the country is in such a sh*t state - if they cared more about the land and the people in it than the money they generate then the country would be alot better for it, trust me. And people like this Roy Hart would be acknowledged and rewarded for setting a fine example to everybody else, as opposed to trying to screw him over like they currently are - I mean what sort of message does that put out ? Well for a start, f*ck wildlife leave tires in the bloody river.....Honestly you can not rely on this government for anything, regardless of entitlement, unless it involves giving money to them. In fact the one thing you can rely on this government for is to try to screw over honest people.