Council counts the cost of an avalanche of fly-tipping with 32 incidents each day
Tons more fly-tipped rubbish was dumped in Sunderland last year as figures show council staff dealt with an average of 32 incidents a day.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data shows 11,743 fly-tipping incidents were reported to Sunderland City Council in 2020-21 – a 33% increase on the 8,829 incidents the year before.
The figures also show the council carried out 5,647 enforcementactions–including 260 fixed penalty notices.
Householdwasteaccounted for 6,246 (53%) incidents, while 442 more incidents of rubbish being dumped were classed as large enough to fill a tipper lorry.
These cost the council £154,700 to clear up.
The council’s deputy leader, Cllr Claire Rowntree called on residents to help crack down on the crime by reporting what they know and see.
She said: “We take a zero tolerance approach to all environmental crime including fly-tipping, which is not only illegal but also a real blight on our communities.
“Since April 2019 we have issued 1,200 fixed penalty notices for a range of environmental crimes including fly-tipping and all revenue generated from these notices is ploughed back into the serviceandhelpspaytowardsthe
costs of cleaning up."
She added: “We have also seizedanumberofvehicleson suspicion of being involved in fly tipping, four of which have subsequently been crushed, with a further two due to be crushed in the New Year.
"We would like to thank all residents who help us to take action against those responsible
and appeal to anyone who witnesses fly-tipping to report it anonymously to https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/ report-flytippingorbycalling 0191 520 5550.”
Nationally, a record 1.1million incidents of rubbish being illegally dumped were recorded in 2020-21 – up from 980,000 the previous year.
Sarah Lee, director of policyandcampaignsattheCountryside Alliance, said: “From quiet rural lanes and farmers’ fieldstobustlingtowncentres and residential areas, fly-tipping continues to cause misery across the country.
“Lockdown and the subsequentclosureoftipsonlyexacerbated this situation and we would urge local authorities to think very carefully about preventing access to these facilities in future.”
The Government said the first national lockdown impacted many local authorities’ recycling programmes, and that changes to householdpurchasingmayalsohave driven increased fly-tipping.