Countryside blighted by rise in rural fly-tipping
Latest figures show the illegal dumping of rubbish was increasing even before lockdown. Emily Beament reports
RURAL communities are facing a rise in fly-tipping as local councils dealt with nearly a million cases of dumped rubbish in the year up to March, 2020, up slightly on the previous year, the latest official figures show.
England’s rural areas are suffering a “fly-tipping farm-aggedon” with increased illegal rubbish dumping on agricultural land, even before the pandemic, district councils have warned in the wake of the figures.
Overall, the data for England shows there were 976,000 incidents of illegal waste dumping dealt with by local authorities in 2019/20, up 2% on the previous year.
The figures do not show the impact on fly-tipping of the pandemic, which saw municipal dumps closed, disrupted some waste collections, and forced people to stay home where many turned to spring cleaning, gardening and DIY.
The 2019/20 period covered by the figures published by the Environment Department (Defra) only includes the first week of the first lockdown, introduced on March 23 last year. But surveying of councils by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (Adept) in the past year show many have seen higher levels of fly-tipping.
The District Council Network (DCN) of 187 local authorities across England said its members had seen a major increase in incidents on farmland in recent years – and it had become a growing target for fly-tippers in the past year.
Fly-tipping on agricultural land in district council areas increased 80% from 888 in 2012/13 to 1,600 in 2019/20, while total incidents in districts rose from 173,000 to 209,000 for the same period, the figures show.
Dan Humphreys, the DCN’s lead member for enhancing quality of life, said: “We are seeing this becoming more and more of an issue in the countryside, with rural communities experiencing what is tantamount to a fly-tipping farm-aggedon.”
He called for Government funding certainty to help district councils “wage war on fly-tippers”, and for sentencing guidelines to be reviewed
‘Rural communities are experiencing what is tantamount to a flytipping farm-aggedon’ DAN HUMPHREYS, DCN
so courts can be tougher on those found guilty of the more serious offences.
The official data shows that even before the pandemic, general fly-tipping of household rubbish was on the rise, with 632,000 incidents in 2019/20 – up 7% from 588,000 cases in 2018/19.
Household rubbish accounts for nearly two-thirds (65%) of the waste illegally dumped, while fly-tipping most commonly occurs on pavements or roads, making up more than two-fifths (43%) of incidents.
The most common size of fly-tips, accounting for more than a third (34%) of cases, is a small van-load of illegally tipped rubbish, followed by incidents the size of a car boot-load or less (28%).
There were 33,000 incidents where the rubbish dumped was the size of a tipper lorry-load or larger, down 8% on the previous year, but still costing £10.9 million for councils to clean up.
Enforcement actions, including fixed-penalty notices, were down slightly last year on 2018/19, but the number of court fines handed out was up 30% in a year, and the total value increased 7% to £1.17 million, the figures show.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Fly-tipping is completely unacceptable and these cynical offenders need to know that councils are taking increasing action and that they face on-the-spot fines of £400 or up to five years in prison if convicted in court.”
She said the number of fixed-penalty notices issued had increased by a third since 2016 and prosecutions had doubled in the same period.
“We are committed to tackling waste crime even further, but there is more that we must all do,” she said.
“Everyone has a legal duty of care when handling waste, and all householders and businesses must ensure that they pass their waste to licensed carriers, as failure to do so could result in a £400 fine,” Ms Pow added.