Get tough to snuff out fly-tipping
We make no apologies for returning to the issue of the region’s fly-tipping epidemic.
Today the Express & Star reveals that taxpayers in the West Midlands are being hit in the pocket to the tune of £2.3 million a year to clear up illegally dumped waste.
Astonishingly, there are around 90 incidents of fly-tipping a day across the region, some of which are on an industrial scale.
We are now in a situation where organised criminal gangs are dumping rubbish, only to then offer to dispose of it at a reduced price.
Last year our councils spent £1.8m on removing dumped waste and a further £580,000 investigating offences.
This desperate state of affairs simply cannot go on.
In these times of austerity, our local authorities should be protecting the public purse.
Sadly, cuts to services are now an annual reality.
Every penny that councils have in their coffers needs to be spent on preserving services. Spending millions on clearing away illegally dumped rubbish is a complete waste of resources.
As is so often the case, the legislation currently available to councils to deal with the people behind fly-tipping is woefully insufficient.
Councils have the power to impose £400 fixed penalty notices, but some people find such a charge a price worth paying if it means they can get rid of their unwanted junk.
In recent weeks we have seen huge piles of rubbish left outside the Shaw Road tip in Wolverhampton. In Staffordshire a lorry load of waste was dumped on a country road, while 21 fridge freezers were abandoned in a lane on the border between Aldridge and Great Barr.
It is highly unlikely that any of the culprits behind these incidents were concerned about having to pay £400 if they had been caught.
What we need is more punitive sanctions.
The courts need to swiftly realise the vast expense and waste of resources that can be directly attributed to fly-tipping.
A proper deterrent needs to be imposed. This means judges jailing perpetrators and issuing fines that run up to tens of thousands of pounds.
With opening hours at tips being reduced and some councils moving to fortnightly bin collections, there is real potential for the fly-tipping epidemic to get worse. We can put an end to it by bringing in stricter punishments.
