Fly-tipping is taking place on a massive scale across the UK...

Fly-tipping is taking place on a massive scale across the UK... Tuesday 30th October 2007 The Countryside Alliance has warned that Fly Tipping means big bills for councils and private landowners Fly-tipping is taking place on a massive scale across the UK... The Countryside Alliance has warned that Fly Tipping means big bills for councils and private landowners There were some 2.5m cases of illegal dumping recorded between April 2005 and 2006, with 1,249,527 incidents reported in Liverpool alone. The alliance used the Freedom of Information Act to find out from local authorities the scale of the problem. 1. Liverpool - 1,249,527 2. Sheffield - 161,898 3. Haringey, London - 63,767 4. Kingston and Chelsea - 58,374 5. Manchester - 30,818 6. Birmingham - 25,782 7. Southwark, London - 24,852 8. Lewisham, London - 18,987 9. Portsmouth - 18,88310. Newcastle - 18,244 Charging domestic users for the amount of rubbish they throw out ...and the Fly Tipping issue: The government is faced with a dilema - on the one hand, the UK faces heavy fines from Europe if the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites is not drastically reduced in the near future and recycling targets met. On the other hand, there is concern that Fly-tipping may become an increasingly appealing option if households are charged for the amount of rubbish they generate. Last year, a think tank urged the government to give councils powers to charge households for disposing of non-recyclable rubbish. The Institute for Public Policy Research said a "pay as you throw" system was the only way to improve the UK's poor recycling record. The Introduction of a "bin tax" has not been ruled out by the government although in a recent decision they shelved the concept for the time being. This week however local councils were again being urged to consider charging for rubbish on a new not for profit charging system. It is suggested that heavy rubbish generators would pay more than they are currently, and those recycling more and throwing out less would pay less than they are currently. Whatever the outcome of the "how to" debate, there is no doubt that the problem must be addressed. According to the Countryside Alliance, the cost of clearing up fly-tipping to local authorities alone was nearly £100m between April 2005/2006. Black bags Black bags full of domestic rubbish accounted for 63% of all fly-tipping and more than half of fly-tipping took place in alleyways, the report revealed. Its report also called fly-tipping "one of the most widespread problems facing the countryside", which was a big concern and expense to private landowners. Last year, there were just 24,460 prosecutions for fly-tipping, meaning just 1 percent of fly-tipping offenders were prosecuted, resulting in just eight custodial sentences, 44 community services and 120 absolute or conditional discharges. Many people believe that fly-tipping is something they can get away with and that the victim is faceless. This is nonsense, if you fly-tip on private land the owner gets the stress of clearing it up and the bill. If you fly-tip on public land the taxpayer gets the bill. In both instances, as well as breaking the law, you are ruining the beauty of the countryside for everyone. The report said offenders ranged from one-off "opportunistic" fly-tippers to criminal gangs carrying out regular and highly-organised fly-tipping operations. Fighting Back! Covert CCTV is one aid being employed by some Local Authorities and also private landlords, to record incidents of fly-tipping for subsequent use in confronting and prosecuting the perpetrators ...for details of one covert CCTV system currently being used visit; http://www.insight-security.com/cct-vidilanz.htm This message was added on Tuesday 30th October 2007

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