Duchy of Lancaster’s illegal waste dump..

[CurlewKate]

https://www.channel4.com/news/uks-worst-illegal-waste-dump-is-on-site-belonging-to-private-estate-of-king-but not our fault, Guv.

@MidWayThruJanuary

I think that is the main issue - people are suspicious of things they don't understand and not helped by journalists taking numbers out of context and fanning the flames.

@FalseSpring
You misunderstand me. A lot of people do understand and are not happy.

Deafening silence from KC3 and PW today about the Wigan dump - is it beyond the intelligence of their crack PR teams to suggest that a statement about that situation would be ground breaking?
Talking about journalists - the Mail on Sunday played a blinder uncovering AMW's friendship with Epstein. If it was not for them who knows how long that situation would have gone undiscovered and unreported. If only they could get their hands on the sealed Trade Envoy files now.

Thanks for posting this article.

It's noteworthy that The Jubilee Trust is receiving and spending by far the biggest slice of the pie (most of it on the Savoy Chapel).

It might be pertinent to ask who decides how the pie is sliced?

We also see the Duke of Lancaster Housing Trust purchasing property from the Duchy.

It's all so murky 😡

@CathyorClaire

All decisions regarding the distriutions from the Duchy or the spending by the charities are the responsibility of the Duchy Council (headed by an MP) or the trustees of each charity respectively.

You can raise questions direct with the Charities Commission if you believe that any of the charities are mis-directing funds.

Bona Vacantia is not the cash cow some people think it is, the estates of people who die intestate are typically very small. Even so, considerable time and energy goes into seeking out any rightful beneficiaries.

If, despite the Government’s best efforts, legitimate heirs cannot be found then monies reverting to the Crown is the last thing that happens. Nobody is being cheated or robbed, there is no claim on the funds and no public entitlement to them.

Of course. If there is no traceable family it goes to the State. Of course no one is being robbed!

This is about what the Duchy of Lancaster does with their estates of people who die intestate with no relatives and who live in the DoL area. The amounts may be small but they mount up to very many millions.

You know that, @simpsonthecat but not everyone seems to get it.

Also it doesn’t go to the State, it goes to the Crown, and from there charitable causes can benefit. Honestly I’d have a lot less confidence in the State putting BV assets to good use.

Of course you do .

@Ohpleeeease

’Also it doesn’t go to the State, it goes to the Crown,’

What sort of distinction are you trying to make here. The crown is practically the same as the state . A government solicitor deals with it .

I can’t find any info on what the Treasury does with the money from the unclaimed estates after keeping them for the requires length of time. I just looked on the government account for last year and all the expenditures seem to relate to the admin of the system.

Am I missing something?

Given C3's penchant for meddling I think it's a stretch to think all the decisions are taken entirely independently of his influence.

I also think most people on being told BV funds earmarked for charity were being split three ways would expect a more equal distribution or if there were to be a leaning that it would favour people-centric causes.

I don't doubt any questions raised with the Charity Commission would be met with the usual finding in royal matters of 'nothing to see'.

Even so, considerable time and energy goes into seeking out any rightful beneficiaries.

Time and energy that the DoL doesn't expend preferring instead to tip a substantial cash amount into an interest bearing reserve account and wait for any valid beneficiaries to surface.

Interesting.. headline BBC news this morning - two men arrested for the Oxfordshire dump. It will cost £20million to clear up and drone footage shows how close it is to an A road, literally over a hedge.
Let's hope there's action on the Wigan one, perhaps the Duchy can do some urging of action

We are his 'subjects' he reigns over this country why oh why wouldn't you just say I might not own it all but my country i live in, reign over and my 'subjects' deserve better and just cough it up and pay it to be done.

Incorrect: most people in the UK are called citizens
https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/print

Since 1983, only a few people have been eligible to be British subjects: it's a small specific category
https://www.gov.uk/types-of-british-nationality/british-subject

The environment agency are completely useless in tackling this organised crime, though I’m glad arrests have been made.

“The dump in Kidlington, between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tonnes of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

It is just one of 517 illegal dumps across England, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.”

A 280,000 ton site??? Members of the public notice this illegal dumping and report it yet the EA drags its heels to investigate and shut down access to the sites. It must have taken years to accrue 280,000 tons.

This is a massive problem and the Government need to take it seriously and introduce far more punitive measures including emergency measures to stop them in their tracks.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy7m3ezr80yo

ShamedBySiri · 27/01/2026 15:09
Do we know if the Duchy were even aware they owned this land until this blew up

No they probably weren’t aware but the op is always looking for reasons to criticise them.
@curlewkate why don’t you just admit you’d like to see them lined up against the wall in a cellar and shot, Romanov style.

If they weren't aware, they are not doing their jobs properly.

If I wasn’t so passionately opposed to blood sports, possibly.

Maybe for the greater good you could overcome your aversion to blood sports just this once.
Who would you shoot first? The adults or the children?

What a thing to say

One can find the monarchy a toxic institution without wishing the individuals involved, however flawed, any harm

Wow.

That’s an incredibly easy thing to say! Having worked in similar offices, it’s easy to imagine. that the Duchy office regularly receives notice of land that is coming into its possession under the bona vacantia rules. That could be weekly, monthly - we don’t know. It then becomes someone’s workflow to work through it. Given they will be advised in terms of property references - land registry record descriptors - it will presumably take them a while to work out that land record X is a small part of a site that is being used as an illegal dumping site. I not sure how you suggest they would be able to find out?

@Minutewaltz
What a childish and worthless response.

The Windsors revealed to be pedophiles and pedophile protectors ( as long suspected now confirmed ) and your offensive response is all a Windsor supporter can come up with?!

I judge those who continue to support the Windsors despite all we know , almost as harshly as I judge the Windsors themselves .

'Someone's workflow'. Rightio.

Bearing in mind they have taken possession of £62 million in 10 years, they could probably afford a member of staff dedicated to this. Perhaps they could actually visit said land, I am sure they are not presented with BV estates daily.

What a childish and worthless response.

Maybe but not sure if it’s any worse than considering it’s acceptable to shoot people because you don’t like them.