Fly tipping?

I've just taken on a garden which still has loads of winter leaves all over it. All of them are from broad leaved trees in wooded plot next to the garden - the garden itself has only conifers. I've already removed two big dumpy bags. The customer does not want to mulch the leaves as there is not much space and she thinks it will be messy. She has asked me to put them back over the fence into the plot, arguing that they are not her leaves.

I told her that I am pretty sure that this would constitute fly tipping so isn't an option, but she is pushing for them to go back to where they came from. I had explained before starting that the leaves would either have to be removed (and estimated the cost) or could be mulched. At the time she seemed ok with removal but now seems to have had a change of mind. I know the previous gardener used to put at least some of the leaves back into the plot as there are piles along the boundary fence.

Can anyone offer any definitive clarification on the fly tipping issue please?

fly tipping is ‘the illegal deposit of any waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no licence to accept waste’. Waste includes: general household waste; larger domestic items including fridges and mattresses; garden refuse; and commercial waste such as builders’ rubble, clinical waste and tyres. Such waste can occur in any quantities in any mixture in any location.

So strictly speaking dumping the leaves back over the fence is fly tipping.

However if the land is council owed it is possible on occasion to get the council to remove the leaves if you leave them in a pile accessible for them. Your customer will need to speak to and receive on writing permission prior to you doing any such thing.

The fines for fly tipping now go to both the householder and the fly tipper!

Be careful.
It is a pain leaves from someone else's trees but does she clear her leaves/needles from her neighbours.

It's one of those things. She can ask her neighbour to prune but the neighbour is under no legal duty unless the trees are endangering her property and I'm afraid excessive leaves don't count. Sorry.

Replies

Dan Frazer Gardening March 29, 2016 at 9:15am

Who owns the wooded area? I'd side with the customer to be honest and return the leaves from whence they came! Overhang from someone else's property causing a mess is in essence a bit unfair and a hassle.
PRO

Andy March 29, 2016 at 9:27am

fly tipping is ‘the illegal deposit of any waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no licence to accept waste’. Waste includes: general household waste; larger domestic items including fridges and mattresses; garden refuse; and commercial waste such as builders’ rubble, clinical waste and tyres. Such waste can occur in any quantities in any mixture in any location.

So strictly speaking dumping the leaves back over the fence is fly tipping.

However if the land is council owed it is possible on occasion to get the council to remove the leaves if you leave them in a pile accessible for them. Your customer will need to speak to and receive on writing permission prior to you doing any such thing.

The fines for fly tipping now go to both the householder and the fly tipper!

Be careful.
It is a pain leaves from someone else's trees but does she clear her leaves/needles from her neighbours.

It's one of those things. She can ask her neighbour to prune but the neighbour is under no legal duty unless the trees are endangering her property and I'm afraid excessive leaves don't count. Sorry.
Austin Campbell March 29, 2016 at 10:09am

Thanks! Never straightforward is it? I'll see if she can chase up the landowner - I've got a feeling it might be the local school. The leaves are nearly all windblown - very little overhang. Her own conifers don't overhang neighbouring properties either.
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  Andy > Austin Campbell March 29, 2016 at 10:56am
  
  If it's the local school talk to the caretaker or headmaster they probably don't have a clue what's happening and will arrange for their people to deal with the leaves. But as other replays have said don't just "give it back"
David Cox March 29, 2016 at 10:20am

Be careful, find out the owner first - I rent some fields which back onto 4 houses - the garden waste regularly comes over and I have come close to blows with one gardener over it - a) if nature puts them their, its not the plot holders responsibility, so it is fly tipping to send them back over, and if animals have access to the land dont do it, if you put something poisonous over such as laurel of rhodi - your up the creek.
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  Andy > David Cox March 29, 2016 at 10:54am
  
  I've had a similar experience and it resulted in a very p***** off me "returning" all his garden waste in a large dumpy bag on to his drive! Police and council were involved. No charges but a "friendly word" from a Sargent to me about being a prat (in hindsight very appropriate) and the council informing the house owner about fly tipping on private land and the fines involved. We reached a compromise in the end and I had a large bonfire every month or so and he was invited (properly) to bring over garden waste for disposal. Still slightly miffed years later about his assumption that it was okay to dump his rubbish on my land. Anyway a more chilled me and a less aggressive him have worked it out.