Country& Farming ‘Landowners bear brunt of clearing up fly-tipping’

FARMERS and landowners are counting the cost of increased flytipping following the release of Welsh Government statistics relating to incidents, enforcement actions and prosecution outcomes.

CLA Cymru, whose members frequently face having to clear up rubbish fly-tipped on private land, said fly-tipping is a “national disgrace” that blights the countryside.

Director Rebecca Williams said: “Fly-tipping is getting worse – at 38,580 incidents in 2016-17, we’ve seen an annual increase of around 2,300, and incidents on agricultural land have returned to the highest level when fly-tipping was at its peak.

“The cost of clearing fly-tipped waste is estimated to reach a shocking level of over £2m per year.

“Happily, the proportion of flytipping incidents involving domestic waste has decreased slightly, but this indicates the importance of targeting other sources.

“In October we welcomed the Welsh Government’s new regulations which allow local authorities in Wales to issue fixed-penalty notices for fly-tipping incidents. Under the new provisions, penalties of up to £400 could be imposed.”

Ms Williams said rural landowners should not bear the burden of clearing waste deposited deliberately to avoid waste-management costs or to save time.

She added: “Our own research has shown that private landowners bear the cost of on average £844 per incident.

“Most landowners are modest farmers who cannot afford this clearance cost, the time it involves and also face the risk of injury to livestock or contamination of land by residues from flytipped waste, some of which is set alight.”

Results from a survey conducted by Farmers Weekly and CLA Insurance revealed that almost two-thirds of farmers and landowners in England and Wales have been affected by fly-tipping and over half agree it is a significant issue in their area. Most victims surveyed said they had been targeted on multiple occasions.

Ms Williams added: “In Wales, we value the quality of our landscape very highly. It is entirely appropriate that as strategies develop further for natural resources management, mechanisms are put into place to defend the quality of our environment.”