Water abstraction: R v Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited (17 November 1998) Magistrates' Court

Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited of St. Albans, Hertfordshire ran nurseries at Letty Green and Birch Green in Hertfordshire. In 1985 Thames Water Authority gave Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited permission to drill and test pump an experimental borehole at Letty Green. At the time an abstraction licence was not obtained. Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited then continued to abstract water from the borehole without an abstraction licence between 1986 and 1988. In 1995 Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited applied for an abstraction licence to abstract water from a borehole for its nursery at Birch Green. It failed, however, to comply with conditions of the licence requiring that an efficient water meter be fitted and that weekly pumping records be kept. The Environment Agency investigated the situation following receipt of complaints from local residents at Letty Green who suspected that the abstraction was having negative effects on local properties. Having discovered the offences the Environment Agency prosecuted Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited for five counts under Section 24(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991 which makes it an offence to abstract water from any source of supply except in pursuance of and in accordance with an abstraction licence. Joseph Rochford Gardens Limited was fined £3,000 per offence, ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation and £600 in legal costs. (Environment Agency News Release 175/98 1 December 1998)