Hundreds of fly-tipping incidents in Ashfield

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy said the high level of fly-tipping seen across England is a “tragedy” to the environment and to communities.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures reveal there were 812 fly-tipping incidents in Ashfield in the year to March 2022 – though this was down from 891 the year before.

A significant amount of fly-tipping in the area last year was discovered on highways, 53 per cent, and on back alleyways, 14 per cent,.

Of the discarded waste, the largest proportion was household waste, 44 per cent, followed by white goods, 10 per cent.

Coun Samantha Deakin, Ashfield Council executive lead member for parks, town centres and environmental services, said: “While we are pleased to see from these figures that incidents have gone down again and incidents of fly-tipping are lower than other parts of the country, we are not complacent.

“The figures going down reflect the level of seriousness we take in acting on and dealing with fly-tipping.

“We are about to launch our biggest spring clean ever, to make it easier for residents to dispose of their rubbish with more flying skips and our all year round free bulky waste offer.

“Last year, we successfully prosecuted the highest amount of offenders than ever before. It shows a council that has pride in the communities it serves.”

Across England, 1.09 million fly-tipping incidents were recorded in 2021-22, a decrease of 4 per cent from the 1.14mn reported in 2020-21. The cost of clearance to local authorities was £10.7m last year.

Allison Ogden-Newton, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, said: “A million-plus fly-tipping incidents is a tragedy for the environment and communities and illustrates just how little people understand about the impact their unwanted ‘stuff’ can have.”

She said there must be a concerted effort to educate the public about their role in solving the problem.“We need immediate and tough enforcement that targets the rogue traders who are making a fortune by breaking the law, raking in the cash and wrecking our environment," she said.

The Defra figures show about 91,000 fixed penalty notices were issued across England in 2021-22, an increase of 58 per cent from 2020-21, while the number of court fines nearly tripled from just 621 in 2021-21 to 1,798 last year.

The value of all fines was £840,000 in 2021-22, more than doubling the £330,000 from the year before.

In Ashfield, 90 fixed penalty notices were issued last year, up from 23 in 2020-21.

David Renard, Local Government Association environment spokesman, said fly-tipping is not just an eyesore for residents, but a serious environmental and public health risk.

He said: “Councils are working tirelessly to counter the thousands of incidents every year and are determined to crack down on the problem, so it is good to see that the number of enforcement actions has increased.

“However, penalties handed down from prosecution fail to match the severity of the offence committed. We continue to urge the Government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent.”