25 Oct 2026
A Harpenden farmer has welcomed proposals to make company directors accountable for large scale fly-tips – reported to be costing the UK economy £2bn a year.
Will Dickinson, who runs Cross Farm near the town, is a leading figure in the NFU’s campaigning on fly-tipping.
This week he spoke at a meeting at the House of Lords in support of the Corporate Waste Crime Responsibility Bill following another spate of fly-tipping in the St Albans area.
The Private Member’s Bill has been brought forward by Baroness Sheehan and intends to address the issue of business waste ending up in the hands of criminal gangs and being fly-tipped.
This is seen as one of the root causes of fly-tipping and Baroness Sheehan told the meeting the Bill intends “to turn the tap off at the source” of industrial scale waste crime.
It seeks to require large companies to appoint a named director accountable so businesses could face fines when their rubbish is fly-tipped and due diligence has not been followed.
Will said: “Anything to help tackle this awful crime is welcomed and hopefully this will make a positive impact.
“Fly-tipping is out of control in this country. It is important to keep this issue in the spotlight,
with discussions at this level, but much more will be needed.”
As a regular victim of fly-tipping, Will told the meeting how a public fundraiser was needed to save his 80-year-old neighbour from financial ruin, after he was legally obliged to pay more than £50,000 to clear 200 tonnes of rubbish fly-tipped on his farm.
He added that there had been a spate of around 15 lorry loads of rubbish fly-tipped in the St Albans area in the last 10 days.
Will, who is still recovering from an accident earlier this year in which he was crushed by hay bales weighing a total of 1,500kg, said: “Organised criminal gangs are wreaking havoc in the countryside, costing the farming industry tens of millions of pounds in clear-up costs, threatening our livelihoods, jeopardising national food security and damaging the environment.
“These criminals are causing so much damage and are making a fortune doing it, with little risk of being caught. In the rare cases when people are convicted of fly-tipping they get fines which amount to less than the costs of hiring a skip.”
Will is a well-known character in the farming community. He has previously served as NFU Regional Board chair for East Anglia and NFU Hertfordshire chair, and he is currently chair of the Hertfordshire County Show.
The Bill is due to go for a second reading in the House of Commons on November 20.
