A Dorset dairy farmer has been fined after failing to comply with a formal anti-pollution notice, following more than a decade of slurry-related incidents at his farm near Blandford.
Mark Pearson, of Hanford Farm, Hanford, appeared before Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on 24th February, where he pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an Anti-Pollution Works Notice under the Water Resources Act 1991. He was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay a £480 victim surcharge and £4,075 in costs.
The case marks the latest enforcement action linked to the farm, where there have been seven recorded pollution incidents since 2012. Magistrates previously heard that, despite regulations requiring five months’ slurry storage capacity, only two months’ storage was available on site.
Hanford Farm lies within a designated Nitrate Vulnerable Zone, an area identified as being at risk from agricultural nitrate pollution. Excess nitrates can leach into groundwater and enter watercourses, damaging aquatic ecosystems and affecting drinking water quality.
The farm sits in the Stour valley beneath the National Trust-owned hill forts of Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, close to the River Stour and near Hanford School.
Pollution, fines and promises
Concerns about slurry storage at the farm were first raised by the Environment Agency in 2015, when Pearson was advised that additional capacity was required. The outlined improvements were not delivered.
In January 2019, an Environment Agency officer walking nearby noticed what appeared to be slurry in a stream and traced the runoff to a field at Hanford Farm. During a formal interview under caution, Pearson admitted that slurry spreading had caused the pollution.
He initially agreed to an Enforcement Undertaking – an alternative to prosecution – paying £2,000 to the National Trust and committing to increase slurry storage.
However, the slurry lagoon was not completed.
In November 2024, Pearson was fined £2,500 for the original pollution offence after failing to fulfil the conditions of that undertaking.
On 26th January 2024 he was served with an Anti- Pollution Works Notice requiring him to install and commission a new slurry storage system by 1st October 2024. The notice carried a right of appeal, which was not exercised. A site visit on 16th October 2024 confirmed that once again no new slurry store had been completed.
Chris Westcott of the Environment Agency, said:
‘Pearson has consistently failed to deliver on his promises to the Environment Agency that slurry storage would be increased. We first highlighted this issue in 2015. We have been more than patient with the farmer, but the promised improvements never materialised and the offending continued, which left us with no alternative but to pursue enforcement actions!’
A local resident, who asked not to be named, said they were relieved action had finally been taken.
‘There have been pollution issues linked to the farm for years, and it has been a source of frustration locally.
‘People just want to see the rules applied fairly and the environment properly protected.’
Additional slurry storage has now been installed at the farm.
