Shocking scale of fly-tipping on Angus border

FIGURES: Councillor fears numbers ‘only tip of the iceberg’

The Angus border with Dundee has become the main combat zone in the area’s war against fly-tipping.

The shocking scale of the problem has been revealed in new data which showed almost 500 incidents district-wide since April.

Across the eight Angus Council wards, Monifieth and Sidlaw is the worst affected, with reported incidents more than six times the level of some other areas.

Van and tipper loads of rubbish, including building materials and potentially lethal asbestos, are among the growing tide of flytipping.

But there are concerns the scale of the problem is far greater due to many other incidents going unreported.

Carnoustie independent councillor Brian Boyd said he feared the recorded figures were “the tip of the iceberg”.

“This will only get worse when some of our recycling centres stop taking general waste altogether,” he added.

The south Angus border with Dundee has emerged as the frontline of the area’s war against fly-tipping.

New data has shown almost 500 incidents of illegal dumping have been reported since April – with the Monifieth and Sidlaws boundary patch experiencing almost seven times the flytipping frequency of other areas.

Potentially deadly asbestos and tipper lorry-sized loads of rubbish have been among the material left at roadsides in a problem councillors fear is the tip of the iceberg.

Statistics for the period since April revealed that 163 incidents were reported by Angus Council’s operations team, with 308 further reports flooding in from members of the public.

With 45 of the council-reported incidents logged in the Monifieth and Sidlaw area, the ward was by some margin the worst affected area of Angus.

Arbroath West and Letham was the second worst-hit area with 25 councilrecorded incidents.

In Carnoustie and Montrose there were only seven fly-tipping reports logged by council staff, but one local member has said he fears many incidents are going unreported.

Farmers on the Angus/dundee border have previously spoken out about the scale of the problem.

Carnoustie independent councillor Brian Boyd said: “These are recorded instances of fly-tipping, but I fear this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

He added: “Moving Monifieth and Carnoustie recycling centres to parttime hours is clearly starting to cause problems.”

Angus Council has repeatedly condemned fly-tipping as “the selfish and illegal acts of a minority”.

“We will continue to investigate all incidences of fly-tipping and take action and issue fixed penalty notices and proceed to prosecution as appropriate,” said a council spokesperson.

“We will also look to increase our use of deployable cameras in areas that have experienced fly-tipping and consider other preventative measures.”

These are recorded instances of fly-tipping, but I fear this is just the tip of the iceberg. COUNCILLOR BRIAN BOYD