enviroment health officers

Funkyfarmgirl

Can someone tell me if an environmental health officer can walk all over your property without issuing a warrent first?
I live on our family farm my parents own the farm and we have propertly on the farm we have a patch of land like a big hole we call the pool hole nothing has ever been kept in it , now my 21 yr old son has cleared it up and is buying old tractors and parts to do tthe tractors up, today an officer came to my house and said we were dumping scrap metal i went on to tell him they were not scrap metal but my sons hobby and they were owned by us on our property till a time when my son has time for them, he said it looked a mess[ we live in the middle of nowhere and it is off the road] then the officer said well there is household waste there which has to be cleared, i was what? he said an old sink which we just taken out and a roll of wire....{ were a farm how do we keep our animals from roaming on the road.by using wire!]
weas he allowed to do this?

molerat

Under most parts of the various Acts of Parliament an authorised officer can enter premises without a warrant. You need to know which particular act he was enforcing and if he has been authorised by the council to enforce said act.

easyhost

Yes they can

we were dumping scrap metal i went on to tell him they were not scrap metal but my sons hobby and they were owned by us on our property till a time when my son has time for them, he said it looked a mess[ we live in the middle of nowhere and it is off the road]

you may be in the middle of nowhere off the main road, but old engine/vehicle parts leak oils/fuels, which will seep into the ground and could effect waterways etc.

mo786uk

It depends on the Act.

Most laws offer protection for homeowners that a warrant is needed - you really need to know what legislation he used to enter your premises. I would have thought they would have to have todl you or given you paperwork

If your premises are classed as business premsies then they will probably have more power.

EHOs are quite powerful though!

Funkyfarmgirl

easyhost wrote: »

Yes they can



you may be in the middle of nowhere off the main road, but old engine/vehicle parts leak oils/fuels, which will seep into the ground and could effect waterways etc.

there was NO oils or fuels leaking.! and there miles off any water pipe.

bris

Funkyfarmgirl wrote: »

there was NO oils or fuels leaking.! and there miles off any water pipe.

It's not the pipes they are worried about, there are water tables everywhere than run into local streams, rivers etc and any thing that can contaminate them is a concern.
For enviromental officers to be involved usualy means a neighbour has complained, maybe it's worse than you think.

maninthestreet

Scrap vehicles are considered 'hazardous waste' now, aren't they?

ebayqueen_2

I agree...looks like you have a neighbour trying to stir it. The same thing happened to me. Went away for a few days and neighbour contacted EH and card had been put through door as she had called. We had some bits lying around and as the neighbour drives through our yard to his house it offended him!
I was so annoyed as I live on a small holding. I never use chemicals or weedkillers not even Baby bio on my plants....:p as I know all this affects the water tables. Dont burn nasty items in my woodburning stove as he does...sometimes at night when I go outside there is def. something that contains chemicals being burnt.

I would do exactly what the EH officer suggests, there is nothing you can do but obey the law.

Funkyfarmgirl

maninthestreet wrote: »

Scrap vehicles are considered 'hazardous waste' now, aren't they?

there not scrap there vintage tractors which are being done up

Outpost

Funkyfarmgirl wrote: »

there not scrap there vintage tractors which are being done up

They're not scrap they're vintage tractors.

Besides, how would an environmental health officer who isn't a tractor fanatic be able to tell the difference unless he took a closer look while investigating a complaint?

Diver2

Funkyfarm girl

Tell the EHO to take a running jump. From an environmental law perseptive you are perfectly entitled to keep your private vehicles on your land.

EHO's have nothing to do with scrapyards etc, as waste management licensing is dealt with by the Environment Agency. They "may" be concerned about contamination (which does sometime fall within Environmental Health's remit), but there's nothing in what you've said that sounds like it would result in regulatory action.

Oh, and the term "hazardous" wastes only applies to commercial waste, which a bunch of privately owned tractors are not.

Post back on the thread if you have anymore questions.
Regards

D2