A local MP has flagged up the impact fly-tipping can have on rural communities and constituents’ lives.
Adam Jogee, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, was addressing Parliamnt in a debate on the Crime and Policing Bill and said more should be done to tackle fly-tippers.
He told MPs that the issue “speaks for itself, not just in our surgeries, but in our inboxes”.
He said the law should be tightened up with a strengthening of the statutory guidance on enforcement, including the use of vehicle seizure powers, to help councils.
He said: “This is important because the people of Newcastle-under-Lyme will be voting in the borough council elections on 7th May. We need our councils to take tougher, more visible action against the fly-tippers who blight our communities.
“It is important not just to me, but to the good people of Newcastle-under-Lyme,” he said.
Mr Jogee praised a speech by Chris Vince, MP for Harlow, who said “fly-tipping is an absolute bugbear of mine”.
Mr Vince joked: “I am often recognised not for being the local MP but for being the guy who goes out litter-picking with my mate Neil. Neil is the bloke who lives around the corner from me, and is considerably more popular than me, because everyone knows who he is.”
Turning serious he said: “Vans full of rubbish are being dumped on an industrial scale. In Harlow, this often involves bin cupboards. When I was a councillor, fly-tipping was a huge issue, and local residents would contact me about getting their bin cupboards locked up, often at great expense to the council.
“In more rural parts of my constituency, the problem of fly-tipping is even worse, with farmers facing intimidation and threats. One farmer told me of a worrying incident when he confronted some of the fly-tippers, only to be told by one of them, ‘Get out of my way. I know where your family lives’. I think we would all agree that no one deserves that sort of intimidation.”
He said the police and local authorities already had the power to search and seize vehicles under the Environmental Protection Act.
“It is hugely important that police and crime commissioners across the country take seriously all parts of the areas they represent, including rural areas,” he said.
He welcomed the Government’s move to put up to nine points on the driving licences of people who were caught fly-tipping.
As we reported in January, councillors attacked “disgusting and disrespectful” fly-tippers who left a pile of rubbish on a country lane, only minutes’ drive from a tip.
The mound, made up of carpet, wood and a broken-up sign, was found on Brown Edge’s Tongue Lane.
County Couns Robert Eggington and Mike Broom posted on social media: “Why do people have to be so disgusting and disrespectful? Fly-tipping is wrong and lazy on every level. This has been reported.
“This is on Tongue Lane in Brown Edge, a lane that is regularly targeted by fly-tippers, despite being just a lane away from the tip.”
They added: “If you are paying men with vans, make sure they are licensed and disposing of rubbish correctly. This is not okay!”
Coun Robert Douglas also tackled Cheshire East, asking when it was going to “get serious” about tackling fly-tipping.
Coun Douglas said that for every fine issued by Cheshire East for an offence Cheshire West issued 31.
He told a meeting of Cheshire East’s full council that fly-tipping was a risk to public health, endangered local wildlife and livestock and cost about £200,000 a year to clear up.
He said: “Two years ago, I pointed out to this council that for the year to March 2022, while Cheshire West was issuing one fixed penalty notice for every 20 incidents, this council was only issuing one for every 200,” said Coun Douglas.
“Unbelievably, two years later, while Cheshire West was issuing one fixed penalty notice for every 16 incidents, this council was only issuing one for every 500.
“Every time Cheshire East issued a fixed penalty notice, Cheshire West would have issued 31.”
