FLY TIPS DOWN - BUT ONLY ONE PROSECUTION

Last year (2006/07) Havering spent £438,000 dealing with 8,394 incidents of fly-tipping. During the same period 76 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued but only one prosecution was pursued.

The information, which was disclosed at a recent Full Council meeting following a question from Cllr Clarence Barrett (Cranham, RA), also revealed that the number of fly tips had reduced from 9,629 in 2005/06.

Despite removing the majority of reported fly-tips in a single day, the number of prosecutions when compared with other London Boroughs is among the lowest. Information derived from ‘Flycapture’ the official fly-tipping National Database reveal the following:

         2006/07                    2006/07

                      No. of incidents      No. of prosecutions

Hillingdon                          2,292                              48

Sutton                                2,175                              20

Enfield                               6,268                              18

Merton                               2,962                              18

Waltham Forest                8,520                                9

Barnet                                3,980                                8

Croydon                             4,831                                3

Barking & Dagenham      5,713                                2

Havering                            8,394                                1

Bromley                             4,974                                1

Harrow                               4,148                                0

Provisional figures to February (2007/08) show that prosecutions has increased to 5 whilst the number of Fixed Penalty Notices has increased to 160.

Fly tipping is illegal and is punishable under the Environmental Protection Act (1990) with a fine of up to £20,000 and/or 6 months imprisonment. The Clean Neighbourhood and Environment Act (2005) increased those penalties up to £50,000 and/or six months imprisonment in a Magistrates Court and face unlimited fines in higher courts, as well as community sentences of up to five years. However, of the 24,460 prosecutions carried out nationally in 2005, only 8 ended with a custodial sentence.

Figures obtained from Flycapture reveal that, in 2006/07, there were 2.6 million incidents of fly tipping across the country which cost local authorities £76 million to clear up.

Domestic fly-tipping makes up most of the cases but commercial fly-tipping can result in large deposits of building material in lanes and secluded spots.

Figures obtained from the Countryside Alliance show that the favourite spot for fly-tipping is back alleys (56%), with Highways (22%), Council land (15%), footpaths (5%) and private property (1%). The most popular item of fly-tipping is the ubiquitous black plastic bag (63%) followed by other household waste (15%), unidentified waste (7%), white goods (3%) and construction materials (2%).

A sizeable amount of domestic fly-tipping is made up of fridges, TVs, furniture and computers. The days of putting a tumble dryer in for repair are numbered, with the option of simply purchasing a replacement the preferred, and more economical, alternative.

If you see someone fly-tipping, the following steps are recommended:

* Never approach the person as they may become violent
* Never touch any of the waste or open containers as they may contain hazardous material
* Get a description of any vehicles involved along the registration numbers, location and time
* Report the incident to the council on 01708 433175

1.4.08