Fly-tipping rise blamed on skip site changes

A RISE in fly-tipping incidents by rogue dumpers in Angus has been blamed on skip site changes.

There have been 291 reports of fly-tipping already this year, putting the county on course to top last year’s tally of 520.

Angus North and Mearns SNP MSP Mairi Gougeon said: “It is no coincidence this problem is growing at a time where there has been a reduction in opening hours at recycling centres.”

Angus Council has put the rise down to increased reporting f ollowing t he emergence of community groups such as Angus Clean Environments.

Mrs Gougeon said the explanation was not so straightforward. “I wrote to Angus Council raising concern at the early closures of recycling centres and to ask how many i ncidents of fly-tipping had been reported to them,” she said.

“Constituents had contacted me after being turned away at recycling centres because the skip site was full or had closed early.

“Angus Council acknowledged that this is a problem and t here has been an increased demand at weekends due to shorter opening hours during the week.

“It’s clear that a reduction in recycling centre opening hours hasn’t worked and I’m glad the council recently increased opening hours to try and rectify this.

“However, it is no coincidence that at the same time we’ve seen i ssues with recycling centres there has also been a significant increase in reports of flytipping — up by 26.5%.”

An council spokesman said: “Fly-tipping is a national problem, one we are not immune to in Angus and we have witnessed an upturn i n reported i ncidents. That is thanks in no small part to the actions of the very active community groups and volunteers we have here in Angus.”