Little Testwood Farm in Calmore given deadline by Environment Agency to clear mountain of PPE kits

A Calmore caravan park has been given a deadline to remove a mountain of PPE kits found on its land.

As reported by the A&T, thousands of unused personal protective equipment were discovered earlier this year during a New Forest District Council officer’s investigation into the use of the land at Little Testwood Farm.

Now the Environment Agency has said the site must be cleared by 6th September.

The find was revealed in a Hampshire County Council regulatory committee last June in which a report described thousands of packs of medical aprons “dumped on the land with no obvious signs that they were being protected or stored for some future use”.

At the meeting, officers said the haul was “hidden away” down the back and was difficult to access, adding: “It is a really good example of where there has been an illegal dumping of waste.”

A joint investigation was launched after HCC contacted the EA, whose officers are looking into whether the PPE was obtained as part of the Covid-19 response, whether the items were defective and how and why the equipment ended up at the site.

The EA has now imposed a number of conditions on the landowner of the campsite, including the deadline for clearing the kits.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “As part of an ongoing investigation into the storage of PPE on private land in the New Forest, we have set a number of conditions on the company responsible, including the site be completely cleared of the material by 6th September.

“The PPE is in the process of being removed, and our specialist officers are monitoring progress to ensure no environmental impact on land or water.

“The company concerned is making good progress in removing all of the PPE, but specialist Environment Agency officers continue to monitor the site.”

The spokesman said anyone with new environmental concerns about Little Testwood Farm should call 0800 807060.