Anthony Frederick van Kuyl: Fined for stealing Crown land dirt to backfill a Kambalda pool removal job

An earthworks company and its director who collected seven trailer loads of dirt from crown land to help back-fill a removal job he was completing has been fined $3000. Anthony Frederick van Kuyl and his company AT Transport and Earthworks pleaded guilty to excavating Crown land and carrying out an activity for fee or reward on regulated land in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday. The 63-year-old admitted to using machinery and a trailer to collect seven loads of dirt from bush land in Kambalda West on June 10, 2024, to backfill a pool removal he had been hired to complete at a local home. The court was told Mr van Kuyl’s offending was observed by a Shire of Coolgardie employee. Defence lawyer Carmel McKenzie said Mr van Kuyl saw the area had already been “disturbed”, with mounds of dirt left behind, from which he took the trailer loads. She said Mr van Kuyl did not know he was doing anything wrong and he was unaware it was crown land. This was challenged by Magistrate Paul Lyons, who said even if he genuinely did not know it was crown land, it was someone’s land and he did not have permission to take from it. Ms McKenzie also told the court her client had suffered injuries which had affected his ability to work and he owed significant debt for an excavator and Landcruiser he bought for work. She provided the court with a quote for the purchase of dirt and delivery to site which would have cost Mr van Kuyl $475 had he done it the appropriate way. The maximum penalty for the charge against the company was one of $100,000, and for Mr van Kuyl himself it was $1000. Mr Lyons granted Mr van Kuyl a 25 per cent discount to his sentence for his pleas of guilty and said he believed the offending was not a deliberate criminal scheme but rather a lack of awareness and carefulness. He said a message needed to be sent to other businesses that land was not there for them to take from as they needed, and doing so could have detrimental environmental impacts. He handed down a $3000 global fine for the offending, $2500 of which is payable by the company and $500 from Mr van Kuyl personally. Mr Lyons also granted a spent conviction for Mr van Kuyl as he believed he would be unlikely to commit similar offending.