Fly-tipping falls by 40 per cent across Telford & Wrekin
Nearly "a fine a day" was issued for fly-tipping in Telford and Wrekin in February, the council has said - but that marked a fall of 40 per cent since the it introduced a new approach to tackle the offence.
In early 2021, Telford & Wrekin Council introduced 13 community action teams – or CATs – in areas of Telford & Wrekin.
CATs work with town and parish councils to draw up action plans and provide intelligence, data and direct patrols, making them more efficient and targeted in the way they investigate.
Councillors says this has helped contribute to fly-tipping being reduced across Telford and Wrekin by 40 per cent in the last 12 months, with figures for February showing fly-tipping was down 50 per cent down compared to the same period last year. In February alone, the authority issued 27 fines for fly-tipping.
The council has also recently increased the fines for illegally dumping waste from £200 for an early payment to £350.
Fly-tipping cost taxpayers around £20,000 a month in clean-up costs.
Since January 2022, Telford & Wrekin Council has investigated 5,784 incidents and issued 138 fixed penalty notices and has sent out over 270 warning letters.
Councillor Richard Overton, deputy council leader and cabinet member for housing, enforcement and transport said: “It’s only through working so closely with our town and parish councils that we can offer this targeted approach and it’s proving a huge success.
"It’s a great result and our teams are out and about in all conditions, to clamp down on this scourge that blights our green spaces, parks and even the streets we have to walk through.
“We’re not only clamping down with fines, but we’re also working with people to reduce the cost of bulky waste collections, provide ample recycling facilities at dedicated sites and from people’s homes.
"There really is no excuse and if you chose to carry on, we have even increased the amount payable if you settle your fine early – up from £200 to £350 – helping to deter commercial fly-tippers.
“I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for our appeals we publish as part of our Telford and Wrekin watch programme where we publish CCTV of people fly-tipping and help us catch those who think it’s okay to make us pay for their waste.”
The council added that there has been a spike in the number of fly-tips on private land, with a 34 per cent increase since last year and the council is supporting private landowners with ways to secure their land and issuing fines where possible.
