Sheffield business ordered to pay more than £20,000 over illegal dumping
The director will have to complete 140 hours of unpaid work after failing to clear the site
A Sheffield company has been brought before the court after letting an illegal waste site to operate within the city.
On April 15 Austin Fitzgerald, 65, appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to using land his company, Concepts Investments Limited, owned as an illegal waste site.
Both the company and director were charged separately, and have been ordered to pay fines that total more than £20,000.
The company was fined £8,000, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000 and costs of £5,442.
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 140 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay costs of £5442 and a victim surcharge of £114.
He must also clear the site by May 18 - if he fails to do this he will be brought back before the courts once again.
Details shared by the Environmental Agency reveal that land known as the Former Stanley Works on Rutland Road was being used as a dumping site since as early as 2022.
Officers from the government agency visited the site in July that year and found a large amount of mixed waste, including fridges and other electrical items and inert waste such as soil and stones.
Despite a warning to clear the site within six weeks later in 2022, a visit in January 2023 none of the waste had been cleared, and in fact new waste had accumulated.
A formal notice to clear the site by June 5, 2023, was served, which the company failed to comply with.
Further requests were made, but in late 2024 and early 2025 complaints were received about the burning of waste, and the operator was advised by Sheffield City Council to cease burning, which was impacting on local residents.
In March 2025, Fitzgerald was interviewed by the Environment Agency, and said that he inspected the site regularly. Another visit in April that year revealed there was still waste on the site.
According to Companies House, the company - based on London Road - was incorporated in 2003, with Fitzgerald operating as director throughout its 23 years in business.
Another man charged in relation to the same site has pleaded not guilty to operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit, with a trial listed for 11 February 2027.
Ben Hocking, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said: “It’s clear that Fitzgerald and the company were well aware of what was happening on that land, and they repeatedly ignored our requests to stop operations and clear the waste.
“Waste criminals damage our communities and we are cracking down across the sector on those flouting the regulations.
“This should serve as a warning for landowners that if you allow illegal waste activity to take place on your land we will take action.”