Illegal waste site near Kidlington

Estimate of when removal of waste will begin

Our contractor, Acumen, are still aiming for waste removal for the end of February but due to the continued heavy rainfall across the catchment this is now likely to be early March. The prolonged wet weather has significantly affected ground conditions, with saturated soils and standing water reducing the stability needed for vehicle movements and safe loading operations. Access routes that are normally suitable for heavy plant and haulage vehicles have become waterlogged, increasing the risk of equipment becoming bogged down. Scoping work to lay access tracks has begun.

Traffic management

The contractor, working with partners from Oxfordshire County Council, is developing a traffic management plan to minimise disruption to local road users. Further details about this plan will follow.

Vegetation work

Further vegetation will need removing from site. The trees and shrubs to be removed are likely to have been affected by the waste, for example the waste may be stopping water and nutrients from getting to the roots, or they may have absorbed pollutants.

The majority of trees are young and Oxfordshire County Council are checking for any Tree Preservation Orders. We will pollard any willows to give them the opportunity to recover naturally.

Following recent rain, we have seen water levels on and around the waste site rise as expected. We have been on site to check levels and make sure that our Jumbo sandbags and the Heras Fencing is working well and remains effective at preventing waste from entering the River Cherwell.

A flood alert for the River Cherwell has been issued. Levels are sensitive to further rainfall and are expected to remain high over the coming days. We are constantly monitoring and update information about flood conditions daily. Please follow the link flood alert for the River Cherwell for the latest information.

The waste removal contract has been signed and Acumen Waste Services Ltd are now preparing enabling works ahead of the waste removal activities, planned to commence at the end of February.

This includes:

Continued waste sampling in several locations. Pits are being excavated at different depths to get a cross section of the waste materials. We will use this sampling to ensure it can be removed safely and sent to the appropriate legal waste disposal facilitates.

Providing safe and secure access. Scoping work has begun to lay tracks for heavy vehicle access. Necessary site tree clearance works are being planned, and they will commence at the end of January.

Site compound and welfare facilities set up. Acumen are preparing for setting up the site compound and welfare facilities for site-based staff. These works will commence early February and will last approximately 2 weeks.

The first Recovery Co-ordination Group took place this week. This group includes a wide range of partner organisations, who will continue to work closely together to ensure the waste removal is well co-ordinated.

As previously announced, the Environment Agency have decided to directly award the waste removal contract to Acumen Waste Services Limited. The contract is expected to start on 19 January 2026. Preliminary work on site has begun by Oxfordshire County Council, to remove any trees or shrubs that need to be cut back to ensure the safety of those entering and leaving the site. We will need to carry out further vegetation clearance later this month and into early February. This extra work is to provide better access to the waste, to enable us to remove waste efficiently. We are keeping any clearance to a minimum. This has to be completed before early spring to avoid bird nesting season and not add delays to waste removal.

The contractors are making preparations now to ensure they have plans in place and everything needed to remove the waste safely and legally. This includes making sure risks to work can be managed and mitigated as best as possible.

We expect waste removal to begin towards the end of February. We are working closely with partner organisations including Local Authorities and National Highways to have as little impact on local road networks as possible.

The waste pile sits within a large area of floodplain, which can store a substantial volume of water during periods of heavy rain.

Following rain last week, we have seen water levels on and around the waste site rise as expected. We have been on site last week and again yesterday to check levels and make sure that our Jumbo sandbags and the Heras Fencing is working well and remains effective at preventing waste from entering the River Cherwell. Which it is.

We have carried out a flood risk assessment to understand any changes in water levels due to the illegal waste and have determined that there will not be any increased flood risk to local properties. You can read more about this in our previous update on the 18 December 2025.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates if anything changes.

If residents have any concerns please call our 24 hour incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 or visit Report an environmental problem - GOV.UK(External link)

We are pleased to announce that the Environment Agency has decided to directly award the waste removal contract to Acumen Waste Services Limited at the illegal waste site in Kidlington. Acumen have significant experience of this work and have worked with the Environment Agency at Hoads Wood in Kent

The supplier will provide a full end-to-end waste management service, including site preparation, waste characterisation, segregation, safe handling, loading, transport, and disposal at appropriately permitted facilities. For full details please visit the contract transparency notice on Kidlington Waste Clearance - Find a Tender. We anticipate a contract start date of 19 January 2026.

On 7 January 2026 Oxfordshire County Council Tree Service began work to prepare the site entrance for waste removal, which is expected to start in February. The work involved removing 7 small trees from the entrance to the site. This work is needed to ensure the safety of those entering and leaving the site. The Council have carried out this work now to avoid the bird nesting season, and to ensure that restrictions to protect nesting birds do not cause delays once the waste removal begins. While we aim to avoid removing trees wherever possible, it is needed here, to create safe, clear vision for slow moving vehicles leaving the site and joining traffic once the official removal of waste begins.

Care has been taken by the Tree Service to ensure trees are only removed where essential. The team had previously surveyed the trees to make sure they were only removing necessary trees. Most of the trees are less than 15 cm in diameter. Two of the trees removed had unfortunately already been damaged during the illegal waste activity.

Oxfordshire County Council’s Tree Policy is to plant 2 standard trees to replace each tree felled that is greater than 15cm stem diameter.

The site remains securely closed with 24 hour surveillance taking place.

Preparatory work will begin shortly, and the waste removal is expected to start in February. We will have a clearer timeline once we have completed preliminary work on site.

The scale of fire risk sets this case apart from other illegal waste sites in England and presents an overriding imperative for the public interest. As such, an exceptional decision was made to progress works to remove the waste from the site. It is a priority to get the site cleared as quickly as possible. We continue to work with partners and technical experts on a plan to ensure the waste is removed and disposed of safely and legally.

To help develop this plan we are:

A 39-year-old man from Surrey was arrested in November as part of a criminal investigation, which we are progressing at pace as we continue to gather evidence. We are working closely with the police to catch the criminals and bring them to justice.

We have taken samples of the waste materials on the site which are currently being forensically examined.

We have put up fencing around the site to secure it and prevent further illegal waste activity. There is 24 hour security on site and strict access restrictions.

Information about the scope and tender for this work can be accessed using this link Kidlington Waste Clearance - Find a Tender

We have carried out a more detailed flood risk assessment to understand any changes in water levels due to the illegal waste and have determined that there will not be any increased flood risk to local properties.

The existing raised flood defence that reduces the flood risk to some properties in Kidlington is located on the eastern side of the town, and the waste site is located east of the flood defence.

Our analysis has shown that flood water would increase approximately 2.5cm in the floodplain close to the waste site during a major flood. During a flood of this scale, the height of the flood water against the flood wall would be 30cm below the top of the flood wall. Therefore, a 2.5cm increase in flood level close to the waste site is not expected to increase flood risk to properties in Kidlington.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide further updates if anything changes.

If residents have any concerns please call our 24 hour incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 or visit Report an environmental problem - GOV.UK

Map showing the approximate location of the flood walls and embankments that reduce flood risk to properties in Kidlington. Image courtesy of Environment Agency