Council chiefs get tough on fly-tippers as number of incidents spike

Council leaders in Ashfield have launched a tough new crackdown to target fly-tippers following an increase in the number of incidents in the district in the past year.

The authority has revealed that a recent covert operation snared eight “waste carriers” who did not have the correct documentation to allow them to legally dispose of household items.

The crackdown comes after Ashfield District Council figures revealed the number of incidents in the district had soared to almost 5,000 between April 2015 and January this year.

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So far this year, one offender has already been successfully prosecuted by the council, leading to a fine of £1,680.36, the authority said.

Meanwhile, a further three cases are scheduled to go before the courts in March, with a another five prosecutions currently being prepared by the council’s legal team.

The eight people snared as part of the undercover operation were all issued with warnings.

Councillor Tim Brown, the authority’s environment portfolio holder, said: “The council takes fly tipping extremely seriously and proactively run operations to combat this problem.

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“Our overall aim is to stop the illegal depositing of waste.

“We have identified that unlicensed waste collectors are operating within the district and are proactively identifying who these rogue traders are to subsequently cease the illegal depositing of waste.

Residents deserve a clean and tidy environment which they can be proud of. Flytipping is illegal and will not be tolerated in Ashfield.”

However, fly-tipping is not just a problem for Ashfield, with neighbouring Mansfield District Council also saying that between 2010 and 2015 it cost the authority a total of £277, 718 in clean-up costs.

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Last month, your Chad reported how Mansfield resident Christopher Place had been fined for his part in a fly-tipping incident, after he hired an unregistered trader to remove waste from an Ashfield house.

The 37-year-old, of Elton Road, appeared at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on January 21, where he admitted failing in his duty of care to comply with environmental protection legislation.

Place had asked an unidentified person to remove waste from a property in Sutton.

The waste was later found fly-tipped on the car park of Maun Valley Trail.

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He was fined £80 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and clear up costs of £100.

Ashfield council is now asking residents to work with them by reporting all incidents of dumped rubbish and to report people who they know are

flytipping rubbish.

A spokesman for the authority said: “The problem appears to be on the increase, with 495 incidents reported between April 2015 and January 2016 compared to 468 incidents within the same period in the previous year.

“A large proportion of fly-tipped items include electrical or electronic equipment.”

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Following the increase, the authority organised a series of free collections during January to enable residents to dispose of their unwanted electrical items.

Analysis after the event showed that by providing the special collections

Post-event analysis showed that, by providing the special collections, the amount of white goods fly tipped last month, compared with January 2015, had reduced by 88.5 per cent.

However, the authority said that, while the number of incidents of fly-tipping has increased, the volume of waste has reduced.

The cost of disposal of fly-tipped waste in Ashfield during 2014-15 was estimated at £31,624, compared with £23,828 so far in 2015-16, despite there being more reported offences.