District bucks rise in fly-tipping cases

There has been a rise in cases of fly-tipping in Kent since 2013, although Shepway’s figure has actually fallen.

Figures show councils dealt with almost 20,000 incidents of dumped rubbish in the past 12 months, a rise of about 3,000 compared to three years earlier.

There were a total of 19,547 cases in the 12 months from April last year, compared to 21,014 from 2014 to 2015 and 16,661 from 2013 to 2014.

Shepway’s figure has fallen in the past two years from 1,380 in 2014-15 to 1,082 in 2015-16.

The greatest number was dealt with by Medway, where there were 3,559 reported incidents.

However, that was much lower than the previous year, when it dealt with 5,083 incidents.

Of Kent’s district and borough councils, Swale saw the largest number of incidents, 2,966 compared to 2,858 the previous year, a rise of 378.

It was followed by Gravesham at 2,258 (1,986 in 2014-15) then Dartford at 1,961 (1,825 in 201415).

Tunbridge Wells registered an increase of 78% with the number of incidents rising to 696 compared to 391 in 2014-15.

Ashford’s fly-tipping figures have decreased from 946 in 201213 to 800 in 2015-16.

Nationally, councils reported 936,090 cases of fly-tipping in 2015-16, costing almost £50m to clear up.

Campaigners say financial pressure on local authorities had resulted in waste collection services being cut.

The figures exclude new powers councils were given in May 2016 to hand out on-the-spot fines of up to £400.

Last week a sofa, two armchairs and a foot stool were dumped along the Romney Marsh seafront.

The beige fabric seats are thought to have appeared on the stretch along Coast Road, Littlestone, at some point over the previous weekend.

Ffly-tipping can be reported to Shepway District Council via shepway.gov.uk/fly-tipping

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