Tipping the balance back to order
Wokingham borough: Figures show fly-tipping incidents have dropped compared to last year’s data
The total number of reports of fly-tipping in the Wokingham Borough have fallen by more than 150 compared to last year.
Figures from a series of freedom of information requests (FOIs) to Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) have revealed that, between May 1, 2020 and September 17, 2020, the total number of cases reported to WBC stood at 743.
In the same time period this year, case reports decreased by 153 to 590.
In the villages of Twyford, Charvil, Sonning, Ruscombe, Wargrave and Hurst, the total number of reported cases fell by 37.1 per cent from 121 in 2020 to 76 in 2021.
Analysing each of the areas in the borough during this
time-period, figures reveal that numbers have fallen across the board since last year.
Finchampstead has had the highest number of cases across both years during this timeperiod, with numbers decreasing by 23 from 125 in 2020 to 102 in 2021.
Meanwhile, Remenham has had the lowest case numbers across both years, with reports dropping from two in 2020 to just one during that time period this year.
The data reveals that Shinfield has faced the largest decrease, with numbers falling by 33.3 per cent from 108 in
2020 to 72 this year.
Of the villages of Twyford, Wargrave, Hurst, Ruscombe, Sonning and Charvil, Hurst has had the highest number of reported cases over both years, but the village has also seen the largest fall in reports, with numbers dropping by 16 from 42 in 2020 to 26 in 2021.
Reported cases in Twyford and Ruscombe in 2021 both fell to eight from 17 and 15 respectively in 2020.
In Wargrave, numbers dropped by four from 15 in 2020 to 11 this year, while in Charvil they fell by three from 16 in 2020 to 13 in 2021, and in Sonning figures decreased by six from 16 last year to 10 this year.
A spokesperson from Wokingham Borough Council’s localities team said: “We are pleased that the fly-tipping cases have decreased this year and believe that this is because of the active anti fly-tipping work carried out by locality officers, strong communication messages, the installation of more CCTV cameras and ‘We are watching you’ signage across the borough.
“People returning to work and the re-opening of recycling centres and tips for people to dispose of their rubbish responsibly has also helped with the decreasing number of fly-tipping cases.
They added: “Over the last year, we have been actively disrupting fly-tippers by installing CCTV across hot spot areas including “We are watching you” signage, issuing Fixed Penalty Notices, increasing our communication programmes to residents via social media, news releases, articles and e-newsletters, and jointly working with Thames Valley Police on illegal trade waste carriers. We have noticed a decrease in fly-tipping as a result.”