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Fly Tipping and Litter
Litter is an issue that impacts us all and our shared spaces we have all seen the value of our communal spaces so how do we protect these and ensure protection for our communities.
Now an area of Rural Crime is very important to residents as well as impactful on the local environment. Now firstly whilst we all know what littering is Fly Tipping, now this is the illegal dumping of waste on a given location.
One impact which we have to address is where the waste is dumped now whilst police forces including those in Suffolk are working to reduce the crimes they cannot be everywhere at all times. Often when they are alerted to a site they are able to put measures in place to reduce the return of Tippers however, this often causes them to simply find another site. It is also relevant to mention that unlike incidents tipped on public land the farmers often will be responsible for the cleanup. Now in conversation with my colleagues in the sector, this often causes unnecessary cost and can impact livestock, machinery or crops which has unintended consequences as the farmer will both have to cover any damages, clean up the site correctly and protect their site. These cases are also not just small scale occurrences one of the largest Tyre dumps with five hundred tyres have been dumped on a Suffolk. Now, this was committed on a farm between Monks Eleigh and Milden, not through small cars dumping goods but an opportunistic HGV that was spotted. The distress and financial pressure which this likely brought to the farmer who would be saddled with the bill are fundamentally unfair and justice needs to be served by those who committed the offence. In terms of the statistics, Suffolk was at three thousand and eighty incidents which dropped slightly to three thousand and twenty-three. Two hundred and thirty-five of these are in Barbergh the figures are not calculated yearly by region but the district council is investigating the level of industrial waste which has been dropped over the recent lockdown.
What are the laws and whose duty does it fall on, firstly nationally it is the responsibility of the environment agency to work to resolve this particular rural crime. Legally they can be fined up to £50,000 however, this is the maximum, not the average amount fined. From my conversation with Tim Passmore, we mutually agreed that sequestering the assets of the individual or group involved is also something that must be done this is linked to the Magistrates Court system. Whereas the Crown Court has unlimited fines and a five-year prison sentence. Again these are up to five years or an unlimited fine the selection of which court depends on the severity of the crime and is largely dependent on contributory factors such as damages to land or property. Now although the EA has a focus on protecting the environment management of these space falls to your county and district councils in Babergh. Now whilst the council has to move dangerous debris and litter from roads or public spaces where they pose a danger litter on private land is the responsibility regrettably of the landowner (the UK Rules, 2021). Now my concern here is for those on private land who are often saddled with both the legal necessity that they have to clear the rubbish otherwise risking further fines. This can often be because of the nature of the rubbish and its effect on the land as well as those surrounding the dumpsite. I stand by calls by councils that further cost should not be imposed on the landowner by making it free for them to dispose of the waste for no cost. This is something that is already being called for by East Suffolk I believe this should be adopted by all Suffolk Councils.
The information that you need for relevance is the time when you have seen the incident and the date that you have seen it if you have seen them dump the rubbish. Descriptions of the individual and of the vehicle try to get make, model, and licence plate. Identify what the rubbish is and if there was anything specific about the site such as if rubbish was there before finally take as many photos or videos as you can. Also do not at any point confront them or examine the waste leave the seen undisturbed. Now in the public sector, this can also directly impact those who use the streets, roads, highways and our local green spaces. We need to do our best to ensure that we do not contribute we can also get involved with local activism to clean up our green spaces. Whilst councillors should continue to ensure that our highways team are able to keep our roads clean and safeguard our green spaces.
Now, what methods are being practiced around the UK to deter fly-tipping and littering. The police forces in Suffolk and nationally will try to use surveillance systems to ensure that we can have a notable reduction in waste dumping. However, this relies on either mobile surveillance sites or fixed cameras that have a cost limitation. Some methods which have had some impact is arguably the same method we use in honesty boxes for fruit and vege stalls or for eggs in our rural areas. The science indicates that if we place eyes or pictures of eyes above the at-risk areas they arguably reduce the spread of litter in these areas why? “The feeling of being watched”. The final point to bring up is that of a scheme carried out by Croydon Council which incorporated a Hall of Shame where litters or fly-tippers pictures are shared to further act as a deterrent.
If you have had any incidence of Fly Tipping contact the police at 101, Babergh council on 0300 123 4000 (option 7) or crime stoppers https://crimestoppers-uk.org/ also use fixmystreet to flag any concerns. https://www.fixmystreet.com/around?js=1&zoom=2&lat=52.10757&lon=0.79541 or https://www.mysociety.org/wehelpyou/report-fly-tipping-to-your-local-council/
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/suffolk-rubbish-dump-local-authority-defra-figures-7795404
https://www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk/fly-tipping
https://www.theukrules.co.uk/rules/legal/community/littering/fly-tipping.html
https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/planning-waste-and-environment/fly-tipping/
https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/east-suffolk-and-cla-flytipping-waste-figures-response-7807738
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/john-west-letter-a12-a14-litter-2690654
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/faqs/advice/fly-tipping-and-law
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/local-authorities/reduce-litter/fly-tipping/policy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37350153