Borough's fly-tipping problem is revealed

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Ian Dipple

02 September. Updated: 02 September 11:29

SHOCKING statistics have revealed the scale of the fly-tipping problem blighting Redditch's countryside with more than two reports a day on average across the borough.

There were 892 incidents of illegal waste dumping reported to Redditch Borough Council between April last year and this March according to figures released this week by The Countryside Alliance. The figure was higher than the more rural neighbouring district of Wychavon where just over 600 were recorded. It cost taxpayers more than £41,000 to clear up but the council received just £100 in fines.

It has led the campaign group to call on councils and the Government to prioritise tackling fly-tipping.

Alice Barnard, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said with budget cuts and an increase in landfill taxes the problem was only going to get worse.

"Fly-tipping is a crime perpetrators can get away with. We need a co-ordinated plan which ensures people who fly-tip are caught and punished and provides greater support to local authorities and landowners who bear the brunt of the cost of clearing up the mess."

But Sue Horrobin, the council's environmental services manager, said they did share the public's zero tolerance policy to fly-tipping and in the last year carried out more than 1,000 enforcement actions against those caught.

"While these haven’t necessarily been fines, these include giving advice or verbal or formal warnings as it is more beneficial to provide offenders with information and guidance," she said.

"While we will not hesitate to issue fixed fine penalty notices, our figures prove this as the number of reported incidents have fallen consistently over the last five years during which time we have seen around 250 less reports.

"We are also continuing with our publicity campaign across the borough which deals with issues such as fly-tipping. We all have a responsibility to keep place where we live and work, clean and tidy."

The council has recently approved a joint strategy with Bromsgrove to tackle fly-tipping as well as other issues such as littering and dog fouling.

A campaign is also planned between January and March next year which will include displaying banners at prominent fly-tipping hot spots, covert surveillance along with the Environment Agency and carrying out checks on builders, tyre fitter, household clearance and waste disposal businesses.