£15m spent cleaning illegal waste supersite in ancient woodland

The clearance of a notorious illegal waste “supersite” in ancient woodland has been completed after 15 months at a cost of £15 million to the taxpayer. The dump at Hoads Wood, near Ashford in Kent, lies within a Site of Special Scientific Interest noted for rare plants and wildlife. Criminals deposited roughly 40,000 tonnes of waste there over a six‑month period in 2023. It was the first supersite in England to receive central‑government funding for its clean‑up, with work at two additional sites raising the total taxpayer bill to £26 million. The Environment Agency‑led operation began in June 2025 and saw 2,500 lorry loads of waste removed to a landfill facility in Essex. CPRE Kent, local residents and the Kent Wildlife Trust joined forces in 2024 to campaign for the clearance, which had piled waste up to 15 feet (4.6 metres) in places. They welcomed the completion but warned that criminal gangs could return. One organiser of the “Rescue Hoads Wood” campaign told the BBC: “Our biggest fear now is that people are going to be able to access this tract and start dumping on it again and unless the authorities are swift it will happen again.” The Environment Agency said it is extending the existing regulation bid that prohibits entry and has dug ditches to make the site inaccessible to waste trucks. Matthew Higginson, the EA’s area ecology manager, said the regulator, police and local authorities have a joint “trigger plan” in place: “That will bring all enforcement partners to work together closely and much more rapidly to stop something like this happening in the future.” Ian Rickards, area manager for Kent Wildlife Trust, said it would take decades for ancient woodland species to return, but added: “It won’t recover as it was but there are benefits to this. You’ve now got open space within the woodland. You’ve got wet bodies. You’ve got ponds. You’ve got these piles of dead wood as well. All of this will start creating, collecting and attracting wildlife back into the area so it’ll be fascinating to see how the tract recovers.” The Hoads Wood illegal waste site is one of hundreds across England that contain a number of alleged “supersites” – defined as locations holding more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish – that were exposed by the BBC earlier this year. In addition to the £15 million spent on Hoads Wood, £6 million has been used to clear an illegal supersite in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and a further £4.8 million of taxpayer money has been allocated for the clean‑up of a third site near Wigan. Speed of authorities criticised In August the government launched a national action plan to tackle waste crime, which it estimates costs the state more than £1 billion each year. However, Hoads Wood campaigners have criticised the government for not acting quickly enough when the illegal tipping was first reported at the Kent site. At the height of the dumping in summer 2023, locals reported as many as 20 to 30 trucks per day depositing waste in the ancient bluebell woodland. Matthew Higginson said the EA did respond rapidly to reports of the dumping but had to spend time investigating “to make sure we had a robust case to take to court in order to get an enforcement bid which closed the site.” Investigations into those responsible are ongoing, with three arrests made in February 2025. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said: “This government is taking action on the illegal waste sites that have blighted communities. Handing this ancient woodland back to local people, alongside our nationwide clean‑up of waste sites, shows just how serious we are about restoring the places people love.” Read the full story at BBC News →