Call to remove fly-tipping penalty from farmers and landowners

A LEADING rural organisation is calling for an end to farmers and landowners being penalised for rubbish dumped by illegal fly-tippers.

Recent figures released by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), showed an increase in the amount of fly-tipping taking place on public land across the country with Yorkshire and the Humber third highest on the list.

But the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said while councils in England dealt with just under one million flytipping incidents in 2019/20, these figures account for waste illegally dumped on public land.

The organisation, which represents around 28,000 rural businesses across England and Wales, believes these figures do not fully reflect the severity of the situation with a “vast majority” of flytipping incidents on privatelyowned land, not included.

CLA President Mark Bridgeman described the published figures as the “tip of the iceberg”.

“Cases of fly-tipping on privately-owned land are significantly more than on public land so these government figures do not reflect the true scale of this type of organised crime, which blights our rural communities.”

When rubbish is illegally tipped on private land the farmer or landowner bears the financial responsibility for removal.

CLA Director North Dorothy Fairburn said: “Fly-tipping is not a victimless crime.

“Private landowners are fed up of clearing away other people’s rubbish and paying for the privilege. If they don’t act, they risk prosecution for illegal storage of waste which is simply not fair.

“The maximum fine is £50,000 or 12 months imprisonment, if convicted in a magistrates’ court, but this is never enforced. If it was, it might deter fly-tippers.

Frequently, it costs more to bring an offender to court than the penalty actually imposed.”

Mr Bridgeman said he was aware of one CLA member who is regularly subjected to fly-tipping and is paying out £50,000 a year to have rubbish including tyres, fridges and building waste cleared from his land.

“Local authorities need to start sharing the brunt of these costs and taking more responsibility for waste dumped on people’s land,” he said.

“Part of the problem is that it’s currently too simple to gain a waste carrying licence that enables firms to transport and dispose of waste – and this needs urgent reform with correct checks put in place. A revamped system would act as a deterrent.”

Mr Bridgeman warned that unless tougher action was taken to combat this kind of rural crime, it would continue to increase.

Miss Fairburn has called on the Government to remove landowner liability to clear up waste on private land and for local councils to introduce a scheme which would allow any private landowner to dispose of fly-tipped rubbish at a waste disposal site free of charge.

“Government regulations enable local councils to issue fixed penalty notices or fines of up to £400 for small scale fly-tipping, but this is not enough.

“We will also continue to call for a speedier and more effective legal system to deal with offenders more robustly, and urge councils to exercise their powers in prosecuting fly tippers.”

According to the Defra figures, Yorkshire and the Humber ranked third behind London and the North East.

Private landowners are fed up of clearing away other people’s rubbish. Dorothy Fairburn, CLA Director North.