A local resident has written a petition in hopes of getting their area cleared of over 25,000 tonnes of rubbish, an area which King Charles owns.
Bolton House Road, in Wigan, is said to have all the rubbish in a concentrated area partially owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, the private estate that the King inherited.
Nicha Rowson, a local to the area, has started a petition to demand that the site is cleaned up, her petition reads: “25,000 tonnes of rubbish has been dumped right next to homes, like mine, and a local primary school in Bickershaw, making life a living hell for local residents like me.”
The petition has amassed over 19,000 signatures thus far. Ms Rowson’s aim is to get the King to see the petition.
A petition has reached 19,000 for an illegal waste site to be removed, on land that King Charles owns
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She revealed: “I hope that when King Charles sees the letter, he understands the detrimental impact this dump is making on our living conditions and families in the community.
“The community are very broken at the moment and people have lost hope.
“I’ve been told that as a campaigner, what I’ve been doing has given people some [hope] as we are now being heard; however, a lot of people still feel this waste is not going to move, and the mental health of residents is spiralling downward.
“In the current economy, mental health should be of utmost importance over money,” she told Hello.
The Duchy has said that they only own 30 per cent of the site, which belongs to the King’s estate and has offered to “hand over land to Wigan Council”.
In a statement, they said: “The Duchy remains fully committed to working with Wigan Council and the Environment Agency to address this issue and to counter the impact of illegal waste tipping.”
The waste dump is on land that is partially owned by the Duchy of Lancaster
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The MP for Makerfield and Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, Josh Simmons, has previously said he “knows how angry residents are about the waste site”, adding the Duchy “seems to be getting off scot-free”.
Mr Simmons said the King should have a “moral obligation” to help clear the illegal dump.
Chair of the House of Lords Environment Committee, Baroness Sheehan, weighed in on the matter, saying: “Well, I am gobsmacked really and, when I saw it, it was just so filthy and so horrible, it’s a living nightmare for the residents and it just seems as though there’s no end in sight.
“That there is now new activity being seen there. It’s just awful for them.
“My message to the Environment Agency is that they really need to urgently clear this site because it is going to attract new activity.”
She continued: “They need to clear the site, they need to secure the site thereafter. I do think CCTV would be a good deterrent – if they can get one up that’s effective.
The site is said to hold 25,000 tonnes of waste
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“It does shock me given the history of the site, given what’s already there and given that we know that the waste criminals who operate sites like this are unscrupulous actually and they will do anything for more money.
“We have taken robust action at this site, including launching a major criminal investigation and interviewing individuals under caution.
“A series of interventions have already been made to ensure there has been no additional waste dumped illegally. As this is an active criminal investigation, we are unable to comment on specifics of the site.”
