Landfill tax halts wildlife haven

The quarry would be a haven for kingfishers, grebes and swans

A bird lover's plans to build a nature reserve in Kent have been put on hold as he faces a potential £2.5m tax bill.

Doug Hilton wants to turn a flooded quarry in Cliffe into a wildfowl haven and needs to build islands, paths and banks with a million tonnes of soil.

He wants to use builders' unwanted soil, but that is classified as waste even when uncontaminated, and he would have to pay landfill tax.

The Environment Agency said soil that was not waste would not need a permit.

The 53-year-old property manager from Shoreham, near Sevenoaks, has already spent £360,000 on the project.

It's bleeding me dry Doug Hilton

His scheme, to convert the disused quarry into a home for kingfishers, grebes, swans and migrating geese has the support of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and English Nature.

Mr Hilton estimated that the total landfill tax bill for construction firms' soil, based on a cost of £40 a load, would be £2.5m.

He said he set out to turn the quarry "into one of the best bird reserves in the UK".

And he said: "This tax is not appropriate. By doing this to people they are simply hindering wildlife. I'm completely stuck and it's bleeding me dry."

'High risk'

He would normally be exempt from the legislation and charges because his project recycles waste, but because the soil is being put in water, he must pay landfill tax under the Water Resources Act 1991.

The Environment Agency said: "The lake, which is an old chalk pit, is in contact with the groundwater, and therefore any disposal of waste at this site is seen as a high risk.

"It could potentially contaminate the groundwater."

"If Mr Hilton wishes to fill the chalk pit with material that is not waste, he will not require a permit issued by the Environment Agency.

"If it is not waste he will also not be subject to landfill tax."