Residents have shared pictures highlighting the scale of fly tipping at RAF Upwood near Ramsey. 

Mostly derelict since 1994, the site has been the target of fly tipping and arson attacks for a number of years, with the most recent incident involving a fire on June 29. 

The RAF Upwood site opened in 1917 after a nearby farm was requisitioned for use as an emergency landing ground. 

In 1981, the United States Air Force was given control of Upwood by the Ministry of Defence, following the end of the RAF’s use of the station. 

Ian Chapman told The Hunts Post: “I’m just concerned as a local resident that the site is being used as a free-for-all dumping ground. 

“I appreciate that the land has been sold, but the memory of the personnel who served there shouldn’t be disgraced in this manner.”

Plans to build 160 homes on the site were recently approved as part of a £35 million deal with housing association Hyde Group with work already underway. 

A 70-bedroom care home is also planned for the site.

Huntingdonshire District Council said fly tipping at the RAF Upwood site has been “consistently problematic”. 

In 2021, it successfully prosecuted Curtis George Brown who was handed a 12-month community order for fly tipping. 

Brown pleaded guilty to three counts of fly-tipping which he admitted to doing for personal financial gain. 

Two of the offences occurred at RAF Upwood and one took place on Hollow Road, Ramsey Forty Foot between November 2020 and January 2021.

In 2022, the council also prosecuted a defendant who failed to provide details about the individual they paid to remove waste from their home who subsequently fly tipped.

A spokesperson for Huntingdonshire District Council said: “We have continued to prosecute and fine perpetrators when they can be identified on the RAF Upwood site, including some very recent fixed penalty notices. 

“The Community Protection and Enforcement Team have engaged with the landowners of RAF Upwood over the years and have worked together to try to minimise the problem. Perpetrators have consistently forced entry onto the site, even during unsafe demolition phases of the development.

“When fly tipping occurs on private land (such as the RAF Upwood site) the local authority can investigate the offence but has no statutory duty to clear and dispose of the waste. It is also the responsibility of the landowner to secure their own land, including fencing, CCTV and security staff.”

Strawsons refused to respond to The Hunts Post’s request for comment. 

RECOMMENDED READING: Ramsey Heights fly-tipper Shirley Harrod fined £1,000