NFU: Tackling fly-tippers must be ‘a priority’

FARMERS fed up with fly-tipping in the countryside are calling on newly elected Police and Crime Commissioners as part of renewed efforts to illustrate the extent of the crime.

An open letter written by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) asking members of the public to help “show the strength of feeling” across the country on the issue has already prompted over 33,000 signatures.

Local authorities in England dealt with just under one million (976,000) fly-tipping incidents in 2019/20, according to figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) earlier this year, an increase of 2% from the 957,000 reported in 2018/19.

The most common place for flytipping to occur was on highways (pavements and roads), which accounted for over two fifths (43%) of total incidents in 2019/20. In the same year, the number of highway incidents was 419,000, which was a rise of 6% from 396,000 in 2018/19.

However, the NFU argues that the current system of reporting fly-tipping is “frustrating and confusing”, hiding the true scale of the problem. Many farmers and landowners are the victim of this unsightly crime, the organisation adds, as they are forced to “spend time and money cleaning up other people’s rubbish”.

In its open letter, the NFU says: “Our letter will be sent to your newly elected local Police and Crime Commissioner next week, with your name added to show the strength of feeling across the country on the issue of fly-tipping.

“Fly-tipping is a blight on our countryside and incidents are on the increase. Last year alone nearly one million cases were reported across the country. Fly-tipping is a crime that needs to be tackled as a priority to prevent our iconic countryside being used as a rubbish tip.”

With elections taking place on Thursday (May 6), the letter asks elected Police and Crime Commissioners to:

■ Work with the UK Government, your local authority, landowners and the waste sector on prevention, clean-up and prosecution;

■ Fund additional investigative support to help bring offenders to justice, including forensic support to track the source of waste;

■ Explore technological solutions, eg the use of CCTV in fly-tipping hotspots;

■ Raise awareness of the duty of care householders have for disposal of waste to the final disposal point.

The NFU adds: “It shouldn’t be this complicated to keep our countryside looking beautiful.”

Election results for the PCC’s will be known next week.

‘Farmers are forced to spend time cleaning up other people’s rubbish’ NATIONAL FARMERS’ UNION

Andy Catchpool > Many farmers and landowners are counting the cost of clearing up after the scourge of fly-tipping