An east Suffolk holiday business owner who was fined £1,800 after admitting failing to properly dispose of rubbish at premises near Halesworth had had the fines reduced to £1,200.

Earlier this year Richard Boddy pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to comply with requirements of the Environmental Protection Act by failing to provide suitably-sized receptacles for the volume of waste produced at Holly Tree Farms Barns, in Bell Green, Cratfield, and thereby allowing rubbish to collect around the bin compound between June 7 and September 28 last year.

He was fined £900 by magistrates for each offence and ordered to pay £3,180 in prosecution costs, as well as a £180 court surcharge, amounting to £5,160. 

On Friday (November 11) Boddy, of Bottesford, Scunthorpe, and now of Barbados, appealed against the sentence at Ipswich Crown Court and had the sentence reduced to £700 on one charge and £500 on the other.

The court surcharge was also reduced to £120.

Boddy was issued a notice by East Suffolk Council in October 2020 following a number of complaints concerning overflowing bins and excessive waste which, in some cases, attracted wild animals.

The notice directed that all waste products be placed in receptacles of a suitable size and type; that no waste be left on the ground around the bin compound or on the public highway, and that a trade contract for regular removal of waste is arranged.

During site visits conducted in June and July 2021, a waste management officer discovered loose litter and black refuse bags full of rubbish on the ground around overflowing bins.

After Boddy’s sentencing hearing in August, councillor James Mallinder, East Suffolk Council cabinet member for the environment, said: “We are always striving to support local businesses, and economic growth is one of our most important values as a local authority – but so is the environment.

"Local businesses therefore have a duty of care to ensure waste is properly dealt with.

“There was simply not enough capacity for the waste being produced at these premises, and although this business had a trade waste agreement in place with East Suffolk Norse, it only covered the removal and disposal of waste from April to September.

“The council advised Mr Boddy about the need to increase the capacity for storing rubbish and to extend the existing trade waste agreement but was not prepared to accept his requests for an ad hoc service and empty the bins on request during the winter months."