A site that has received a lengthy closure from the public is the Eastchurch Gap on the Isle of Sheppey.
It was used as an illegal dumping ground, with shredded household and builders' waste discarded there, causing it to be closed back in 2023.
Josh McMinn went down to the closed-off site to find out more..
It was used as an illegal dumping ground, with shredded household and builders' waste discarded there, causing it to be closed back in 2023.
Josh McMinn went down to the closed-off site to find out more..
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TVTranscript
00:00We're here at the East Church Gap on the Isle of Sheppey, which became a fly-tipping spot in 2020 after a local house fell into the sea.
00:07Shortly afterwards, dozens of lorries a day were seen dumping rubbish onto the wreckage.
00:12You can see here that there's different layers in the pile of rubbish.
00:15That's because when the lorries dumped their trash here, they would dump a layer of earth on top of it to cover up their tracks.
00:21As you look across the beach, you can see different layers of tyres, of plastic and building rubble depending which lorries dumped what.
00:28Right here, the smell is terrible from all the rubbish that's been dumped.
00:33On my dog walks, I see lots of rubbish and quite regularly here we have regular rubbish cleaning, which is really sad.
00:41It used to be like, when I moved back here when I was like three or four, I used to walk up here with my family and all that and it was just, it was so beautiful.
00:48But now it's just completely ruined and it upsets me a bit.
00:52But what's the driving force behind dumping like this?
00:55Could the problem be the high cost of getting rid of waste legitimately?
00:58Local farmer Paul Vickery told us that most of the waste dumped on his land is tipped by licensed waste companies.
01:04They're generally licensed tippers, but it's still cheaper not to go to the tip and just chuck it in a gateway.
01:13To find out about the high cost of getting rid of rubbish legally, we spoke to Perry Kemp, who runs Rubbish Master in Herne Bay.
01:20Perry told us that the things you see fly-tipped most often are the things the council charges most for at the local dumps.
01:26Tyres, fridges, mattresses and sofas. They're the main things.
01:35The licenses Perry needs to do his job cost around £6,000 a year, and yet there are no mandatory checks to make sure companies like his are operating legitimately.
01:44If you is a cab driver, once a year you have to take your cab to the council and get it inspected.
01:52Why can't they do that to people taking rubbish?
01:55How often do they check you at the moment?
01:57They don't.
01:58Whilst greater oversight could help prevent future crimes, it would still be too late for the people of Shappie, who've been waiting nearly two years to see their beach cleaned.