356 fly-tipping fines in last year – as council vows to tackle offenders
FLY-TIPPING continues to plague parts of Reading, but bags left at the flagship housing scheme of the council weren’t dumped by ne’er do wells.
Last week, residents of Newtown took to social media groups to highlight the ongoing problem of bags of waste dumped on streets around the area, wanting action to be taken.
A reader contacted us after seeing bags of rubbish next to residents’ bins at the new Arthur Hill apartments on Kings Road.
They were concerned that before the homes were fully occupied, people were using the area to dump rubbish.
Reading Borough Council has told
that instance was a false alarm and the bags were leftover from the construction work.
A spokesperson said: “The bags of waste at Arthur Hill are waste accumulated on-site during construction and before waste services (collections) go live at the development.
“Reading Borough Council is in the process of arranging for its removal.”
The council is keen to remind residents that fly-tipping causes a myriad of problems for the town, and it will prosecute offenders.
The spokesperson said: “The Council considers all instances of fly-tipping unacceptable, irresponsible and a drain on limited resources, not to mention a blight on the environment and unfair on the vast majority of residents in Reading who are law-abiding.
“Our zero-tolerance policy towards flytipping incidents has been noted with Reading Borough Council being ranked as 16th in the country in the ratio of issuing fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to flytipping incidents for 2022/23.”
Last year, 356 FPNs – nearly one for every day of the year – were issued for waste deposit offences including littering, flytipping and breaches of waste duty of care requirements.
“The Council does not rest on its laurels however, and we will not hesitate to issue fines, or indeed prosecute offenders, where the origin of the waste can be identified,” the spokesperson continued.
“Depending on the offence, the maximum penalty for fly-tipping could be five years custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine if prosecuted in
Crown Court.”
The council also hoped that residents would play their part in helping keep the town’s streets tidy, and asks people to report fly-tipping via its Love Clean Reading app, or the council website.
“The quicker it is reported, the more chance we have of identifying the culprit and taking action against them,” the council spokesperson said.
“Where fly-tipped waste includes bulky waste, garden/green waste, or construction material, we are often reliant on witnesses coming forward or capturing the incidents on CCTV surveillance.
“Residents can also help with the identification of fly-tippers by providing details of the offender such as a name, address or vehicle number plate information which could lead directly to fly-tipping fines being issued.”
■ Fly-tipping can be reported at: loveclean.reading.gov.uk/reports