Walk out from Bishops Waltham.
Passed by Lomer Farm which was once the site of a medieval village.
Add in local tales about Betty Mundy's Bottom.
On returning to the outskirts of Bishops Waltham we came across three young people litter picking. We stopped to chat to them and found out that they regularly litter picked this particular piece of track as it had become a favourite place for people to dump their rubbish. The track formed part of their farm and was therefore classed as private property. This means that the owners are therefore liable for the clean-up costs, even though the refuse is not their own. As we turned into a field, we came across a large "hippo" bag full of builders and general rubbish. According to the Countryside Alliance, fly-tipping affects 67% of farmers and is estimated to cost them £47 million every year.
Fly tipping is the illegal deposit of waste on land contrary to Section 33(1)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It is a criminal offence to fly-tip and can result in prosecution. In Hampshire, if convicted at court, the maximum fine is unlimited and up to 5 years in prison.
In 2019/20 year, local authorities in England dealt with just under 1 million fly-tipping incidents. Just under two thirds (65%) of fly-tips involved household waste. Government figures have revealed that local authorities across the country spent a combined total of £694 million on street cleaning in 2019/20. This is only slightly less than what was spent on household bin collections.
As well as inconvenience and cost to those who are left to pick up the bill of fly tipping, this activity can have a detrimental affect on the natural environment, contaminating soil and watercourses and threatening livestock and wildlife.
Weather, temperature low single figures with considerable wind chill.
Conditions underfoot, frozen and rutted from a week of sub-freezing temperatures.
