News

Calls for Welsh Government intervention over illegal waste dumping

29 Aug 2026 3 minute read

Wrexham Council has issued an enforcement notice on the Cefn Mawr-based company involved in dumping the waste

Mark Mansfield

The Welsh Government has been urged to intervene over the continued dumping of lorryloads of waste on land despite enforcement action by a local council.

Plaid Cymru Senedd Members Carrie Harper and Marc Jones have raised concerns about waste being deposited in a field opposite Castle Road in Coedpoeth, near Wrexham.

Wrexham Council has already issued a stop notice in an attempt to halt the dumping, but the MSs say this was ignored.

The council has since issued an enforcement notice on the Cefn Mawr-based company involved and, according to the MSs, intends to prosecute those responsible for breaching the stop notice.

Ms Harper and Mr Jones have now written to Rural Resilience and Sustainability Minister Llyr Gruffydd calling for Welsh Government intervention if the council and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) are unable to prevent further dumping.

In a joint statement, they said: “As soon as we were alerted to this illegal dumping, we contacted the relevant authorities – the council and NRW. They have been unable to prevent the ongoing tipping of waste and community concerns are that the mess will be left for the local community to deal with.

“Natural Resources Wales has the power to issue on-the-spot fixed penalty notices as well as Restriction Orders. Breaching such orders can mean blocking access and confiscating equipment. Recovery of costs then takes place through the courts at a later date.

“The lack of action to prevent the ongoing tipping is disturbing. We want to see action against the land owner, the hauliers and the sites from where the waste is being collected from.

“Residents have also contacted NRW more than eight weeks ago to alert them to this problem and, to date, nothing has been done.”

The MSs said they welcomed the council’s decision to take enforcement action but remained concerned about the potential environmental impact.

They said: “The council has told us that it is prosecuting those responsible for breaching its stop notice. We welcome that and news that it intends to have the land restored.

“We are concerned about the nature of the waste and what impact it may have on the River Gwenfro, which runs south of the site.

“We understand that NRW is under huge pressures given its workload but this is not acceptable. NRW have their own powers under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to force landowners to remove unlawfully deposited waste and restore land.

“The powers available to NRW extend to a criminal offence for non-compliance. In light of the time this is taking, we are calling on the Welsh Government to intervene to ensure urgent action is taken to stop this illegal dumping immediately.

“Nobody should be above the law.”

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