SAVE OUR CHERWELL

Video drone footage credit The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2025/nov/19/drone-footage-mountain-fly-tipped-waste-kidlington-oxfordshire-video

Sign the Petition to Save Our Cherwell

Page Title

Demand Urgent Action Against Illegal Waste Dump on the banks of the river

DAYS OF INACTION

HOURS

0

Calculated from May 26, 2025

Date When EA first alerted to the illegal dump.

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A site between the River Cherwell and the A34—located on an active floodplain outside the village of Kidlington in Oxfordshire—has become the dumping ground for thousands of tonnes of illegal waste. The pile, roughly 10 meters high, 15 meters wide, and 60 meters long, poses a serious and immediate health risk to the river, wildlife, and communities downstream.

Our Campaign calls on the Environment Agency to take urgent action to prevent the continued environmental catastrophe on the banks of the River Cherwell and on the UK Government to ring-fence emergency funding for the removal of the waste.

Immediate Action Required to contain and clear illegal waste pollution site at river’s edge

This unchecked waste mound poses three critical threats:

1. The waste has not been assessed but presents a fire hazard to the road and village as waste heats and decomposes under pressure.

2. The leachate from the heap, possibly containing heavy metals, hydrocarbons and other toxic substances has been contaminating the soil and entering the River Cherwell since July. Because the Cherwell flows into the Thames, this contamination will spread downstream, endangering ecosystems and, critically, nearby drinking-water reservoirs within the Thames Water catchment.

3. Plastic pollution of the aquatic ecosystem of the Cherwell and Thames rivers, endangers fish, bird and invertebrate populations. It can lead to population collapse and further damage to our already compromised water treatment facilities.

We call on the Environment Agency and relevant government bodies to:

Initiate an immediate emergency response to prevent any further environmental harm, with temporary measures to contain the waste site.

Prioritise urgent emergency funding to remove the illegally dumped waste, putting the protection of public health and local ecosystems first.

Secure and closely monitor the site to stop any additional waste from being deposited.

Conduct a full investigation into the general composition of the waste to assess its danger to the community and publicise its results!

Conduct an inquiry into how this situation was allowed to occur and strengthen enforcement to prevent future incidents.

Work in full coordination with local authorities and Thames Water to ensure all risks to drinking-water supplies, wildlife, and downstream communities are fully addressed.

Cherwell Illegal Rubbish Mound Timeline

May 2025 - Land apparently bought at auction (Barneys) and registered.

26 May - first report made of waste dumping, but access not found. Land has been cleared and prepared.
Cherwell District Council inform Environmental Agency.

June 2025 - Dumping continues. Digger seen working the dump on satellite imagery.

2 July - EA officers attend and issue Cease and Desist letter. No physical barriers to entering the site are put in place. No CCTV is installed. The public is not alerted. No environmental protection measures are introduced.

July & August 2025 - Dumping continues. Next door landowner of Silverstone Storage, Joshua Eastwood, confirms that lorries arrived every night and into the early hours of the morning over the entire summer. Eastwood claims to have reported these incidents.

10 September - Billy Burnell, local angler, discovers the trash heap and reports ongoing dumping to the EA. Access to site is still not restricted. No CCTV is installed. The public is not alerted. No environmental protection measures are undertaken.

September 2025 - Dumping continues (local retirees testify to seeing lorries delivering trash during the day in September to the BBC).

1 October - EA attend. Leave notice. “No one present.” The access to the site is STILL not restricted. The public is not informed.

6 October - This is Oxfordshire (OxMail) article appears, Matthew J C Evans reports dump in the press for the first time. Very little attention is paid and the article goes largely unnoticed. See article

An EA spokesperson says: “The Environment Agency is aware and investigating." No environmental protection measures are taken.

10 October - Environmental Agency attend the site. Notice given again. The site remains unrestricted.

23 October- EA visit. Site closed under Court Order - EA claims “no further tipping.”

8 November - Friends of the Thames, Thames21, River Action, River Guardians become aware and plan their response

10 November - Thames21 informs its followers

13 November - Friends of the Thames Press Release is circulated and MP Calum Miller engages with Environmental Secretary. The press is alerted.

16 November - Cherwell level rises after heavy rainfall to engulf south end of the trash mound (an entirely predictable annual occurrence), as the field is located on a flood plain and was fully submerged in 2024.

17 November - BBC, Guardian, GB News, Channel 5, Sky news and others arrive on site. EA officers on site take photo and leave. Refuse to talk to River Guardians or press. Thames21 test river water downstream.

18 November - International press on site. EA under pressure from questions from concerned citizens. Do some water testing. Access to site deemed illegal after EA press release.

19 November - OCC CDC EA meeting - EA under pressure install boom to prevent garbage from flowing from the ditch into the river Cherwell.
Ed Davey raises issue at PMQs calling for immediate clean up. PM Keir Starmer repeats EA line of "no clean-up before prosecution" - he also pledges to raise EA budget by 50% to tackle illegal waste dumping and to increase sentencing for violators with up to 5 years in prison.

Citizens report important information about the trash origins investigation to the EA over their hotline.
EA issues statement - they have the lead role, the capacity to clear the site, and are addressing the issue.

20 November - EA issues statement:

"Let's be absolutely clear: we have the resources, expertise and determination to deal with this situation effectively. We have teams at the site conducting rigorous assessments of risks to the River Cherwell, monitoring environmental impact, and taking immediate action where needed. We will continue this intensive monitoring and enforcement work until the site is secured, and any environmental damage is addressed.

We are confident we will track down those responsible, but cannot commit to a timeline for when the waste will be cleared".

See article