Landowner pleads guilty in court after investigation into illegal waste site

A landowner has pleaded guilty in court following a long-running investigation into illegal waste operations at Pen Yr Heol Las Farm, Caerphilly.

David Terrence Jones, 76, of Eglwysilan common, Caerphilly, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on April 16.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of permitting the deposit of waste on land without a permit, and one count of submitting controlled waste to a listed operation without an environmental permit.

The case was adjourned to October 9, when Jones will be sentenced.

The case is linked to the prosecution of Stephen John Williams, who was sentenced in October 2025 for related illegal waste operations.

NRW officers first visited Pen Yr Heol Las Farm, on the mountain between Penyrheol and Llanbradach, in July 2019, where they discovered 1,843 tonnes of baled textile waste contaminated with general refuse.

Williams, from Tondu, claimed it was intended for equine bedding, but officers found it unsuitable and posing a serious fire risk. Despite being served with a legal notice to remove the waste by August 30, 2019, he failed to comply.

Williams was the sole director of Wenvoe Environmental Limited and Servmax Limited. Between October 2018 and October 2019, he arranged for more than 2,600 tonnes of contaminated textile waste to be dumped at locations in Caerphilly, Cowbridge and Dolgellau.

He was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to repay £322,500 under the Proceeds of Crime Act following a prosecution by Natural Resources Wales.

‘Serious impact’

Plaid Cymru councillor Steve Skivens, who represents the Penyrheol, Trecenydd, and Energlyn ward, said: “Environmental damage has occurred for many years and many organisations have had to get involved. 

“Yet the outcome of business activity at this location has seriously impacted on historical features and natural habitats.”

He continued: “Residents local to the area and people enjoying the common and other farms in the area have all been affected by industrial level activity over decades, often with access via quiet residential areas. 

“Residents have complained of heavy lorries, dogs out of control, smell, noise, dust, obstructions to rights of way and roadways and antisocial activity at night. 

“I hope the remaining contaminated waste is removed and damage caused is remediated for all.”