Tackling fly-tipping in Bucks

Buckinghamshire Council has joined forces with a local housing association to combat fly-tipping and support residents in disposing of their waste responsibly.

For the past seven months, the council has been working with Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust to deal with a number of fly-tipping incidents in the local area.

Some culprits have been easier to catch than others. In one recent incident, rubbish piled behind bins in Hampden Gardens was found to contain letters and other documents with the culprit’s address on them. Unsurprisingly, the local resident responsible was quickly found and issued with a fixed penalty notice.

In another case, a teenager was caught dumping a cabinet by some bins. When questioned he said his parents had asked him to put it there. The couple were sent a warning letter and also given information about the correct way to get rid of unwanted furniture.

Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council's Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment said: "This joint work is not about trying to catch people out for innocently throwing things away, but it is important that people know the correct way of doing it.

"Dumping excess waste or large items by a bin may seem logical to some but the reality is, it's unsightly and unsafe, not to mention, illegal. There are correct ways to get rid of different types of waste and we want to work with our colleagues at the Trust to educate and inform residents on the right way to do it."

Helled Williams, Assistant Director of Housing at the Trust pointed out: "Fly-tipping is an anti-social and selfish act that makes our communities look unsightly and pollutes our environment. We are committed to dealing with fly-tipping and working in partnership with Buckinghamshire Council to tackle this issue and to support and protect our communities as much as possible.

"Last year, our caretakers dealt with 351 instances of fly-tipping (between 1 April and 31 December) and we want to reduce the amount of investment that has to go into disposing of tipped waste so we can use this to improve our communal spaces for everyone."

The Council will continue to work with the Trust to ensure that the 'scrap fly-tipping' message reaches more tenants and people in the local area. This will include installing new signage and providing information on council waste disposal services and also how to report fly-tipping incidents.

https://www.recycleforbuckinghamshire.co.uk/scrap-fly-tipping/