Less than 1% prosecuted in over 40,000 fly-tipping cases
Sep 10 2010 by Kim Carmichael, The Journal
MORE than 40,000 cases of fly-tipping blighted the North East – but are the “tip of the iceberg”, campaigners say.
There were 43,079 incidents of fly-tipping on public land across the region in 2009/10, with less than 1% – 174 cases – resulting in the culprits being prosecuted.
The incidents have declined shortly since last year, but rural campaigners have warned the figures are masking the true extent of the problem.
Incidents recorded in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’s Flycapture scheme refer only to rubbish dumped on public land, with many farmers and landowners suffering having to pay hundreds of pounds to clear up items left on their land. Samantha Harding, from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “The statistics only deal with fly-tipping on public land. The £45.8m bill for dealing with fly-tipping would be significantly higher if you added the costs incurred by farmers and other private landowners who have to clear up fly-tipping at their own expense. With councils now facing budget pressures we hope that they will not stop their drive to end fly tipping but step it up as a way to cut costs in the long run.”
Those concerns were echoed by the National Farmers Union. NFU regional spokeswoman Rachael Gillbanks said: “For years the NFU has been lobbying the government to take action, arguing that fly-tipping on private farmland is on the rise and presents a serious problem for members.
