Best Of

Curse of new thread.

Guardian in Makerfield. Actually in Hindley, too.
The Bickershaw industrial scale fly tipping would have been a national scandal had it happened anywhere near a media person's home.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/31/labour-have-lost-their-way-voters-in-makerfield-say-its-time-for-a-change

It was a national scandal, which led to this.

Taxpayers to fund clear-up of huge illegal waste dumps
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2expk404vo
Three of the worst illegal rubbish dumps in England are set to be cleaned up at the taxpayers' expense as part of a national waste crime action plan launched by the government.
Huge tips in Wigan, Sheffield and Lancashire - together containing 48,000 tonnes of waste - have been earmarked for clearance by the Environment Agency. A 20,000-tonne site in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, is already being cleared at a cost of more than £9m.
Normally, the cost of clearing illegal sites on private land is met by the landowner.
The plan has been welcomed by locals near the tips but villagers near one of the so-called supersites uncovered by a recent BBC investigation are angry that site is not being cleared.
'Forgotten about'
The three sites identified for clearance include a notorious dump in Bickershaw, near Wigan, which caught fire last summer, forcing schools nearby to close..

Given how long such things take, if Burnham does become PM, he will probably get the opportunity to take credit for clearing it up.

The "private land" has an exemption in Bickershaw. It's about one third owned by the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Royals have no duty to clean up, and from all evidence, aren't in the slightest bit interested in so doing.

Why is the Duchy exempt from cleaning it up?

Is there an exception in EPA 1990 or something?

This must be seriously obscure.

In general, the monarch isn't subject to the courts. It's where the concept of Crown immunity comes from, and why Civil Servants technically don't have employment rights.

So it's not so much that there is no duty to clean it up, more that the Duchy can't be made to do so.

The best explanation I have seen is that Bona Vacantia (ie this piece of land came to them through intestacy) voids pre-existing liabilities,

Bit since 10,000 tons of waste is still sitting in a big heap on their piece of land, I do not see how they can walk away just like that.

Curse of new thread.

Guardian in Makerfield. Actually in Hindley, too.
The Bickershaw industrial scale fly tipping would have been a national scandal had it happened anywhere near a media person's home.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/31/labour-have-lost-their-way-voters-in-makerfield-say-its-time-for-a-change

It was a national scandal, which led to this.

Taxpayers to fund clear-up of huge illegal waste dumps
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2expk404vo
Three of the worst illegal rubbish dumps in England are set to be cleaned up at the taxpayers' expense as part of a national waste crime action plan launched by the government.
Huge tips in Wigan, Sheffield and Lancashire - together containing 48,000 tonnes of waste - have been earmarked for clearance by the Environment Agency. A 20,000-tonne site in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, is already being cleared at a cost of more than £9m.
Normally, the cost of clearing illegal sites on private land is met by the landowner.
The plan has been welcomed by locals near the tips but villagers near one of the so-called supersites uncovered by a recent BBC investigation are angry that site is not being cleared.
'Forgotten about'
The three sites identified for clearance include a notorious dump in Bickershaw, near Wigan, which caught fire last summer, forcing schools nearby to close..

Given how long such things take, if Burnham does become PM, he will probably get the opportunity to take credit for clearing it up.

The "private land" has an exemption in Bickershaw. It's about one third owned by the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Royals have no duty to clean up, and from all evidence, aren't in the slightest bit interested in so doing.

Why is the Duchy exempt from cleaning it up?

Is there an exception in EPA 1990 or something?

This must be seriously obscure.

royals spend some of their own money , don't be silly, as usual they expect the mugs to pick up the tab

I’m not sure this polling carries much implication for the midterms; it’s basically exploring the core vote. A bit like asking HY whether he’s still a Conservative and then projecting that onto the rest of voters for his party; the core vote can remain stable while swing voters are shopping elsewhere.

Talking of polls and swing voters, this bit of research into the local elections is interesting and I think, free access (just give an email and put ‘None’ into the company box). It’s a mega poll of how voters switched behaviour between the 2024 GE and 2026 locals, and at the bottom there’s a drop down where you can select individual councils or even individual wards to see how voters moved. There isn’t much detail about confidence limits so I’d assume the data at Ward level is highly flaky, but for your council it should produce something better.

https://convergent-opinion.com/local-elections-2026

Curse of new thread.

Guardian in Makerfield. Actually in Hindley, too.
The Bickershaw industrial scale fly tipping would have been a national scandal had it happened anywhere near a media person's home.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/may/31/labour-have-lost-their-way-voters-in-makerfield-say-its-time-for-a-change

It was a national scandal, which led to this.

Taxpayers to fund clear-up of huge illegal waste dumps
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2expk404vo
Three of the worst illegal rubbish dumps in England are set to be cleaned up at the taxpayers' expense as part of a national waste crime action plan launched by the government.
Huge tips in Wigan, Sheffield and Lancashire - together containing 48,000 tonnes of waste - have been earmarked for clearance by the Environment Agency. A 20,000-tonne site in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, is already being cleared at a cost of more than £9m.
Normally, the cost of clearing illegal sites on private land is met by the landowner.
The plan has been welcomed by locals near the tips but villagers near one of the so-called supersites uncovered by a recent BBC investigation are angry that site is not being cleared.
'Forgotten about'
The three sites identified for clearance include a notorious dump in Bickershaw, near Wigan, which caught fire last summer, forcing schools nearby to close..

Given how long such things take, if Burnham does become PM, he will probably get the opportunity to take credit for clearing it up.

The "private land" has an exemption in Bickershaw. It's about one third owned by the Duchy of Lancaster.
The Royals have no duty to clean up, and from all evidence, aren't in the slightest bit interested in so doing.

Why is the Duchy exempt from cleaning it up?

Is there an exception in EPA 1990 or something?

This must be seriously obscure.

In general, the monarch isn't subject to the courts. It's where the concept of Crown immunity comes from, and why Civil Servants technically don't have employment rights.

So it's not so much that there is no duty to clean it up, more that the Duchy can't be made to do so.