CLA concerns as fly-tipping continues to rise

CLA concerns as fly-tipping continues to rise

New Government figures showing a further rise in fly-tipping incidents are causing considerable concern to landowners and farmers in the region, says the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

The total number of fly-tipping incidents in England has risen by almost 50,000 to 900,000 in the past year and over the last two years by almost 200,000 according to latest figures from Defra.

The CLA is calling for local authorities to be more proactive when it comes to dealing with the fly-tipping problem.

CLA North Regional Director Dorothy Fairburn said: “Councils have new powers to seize vehicles suspected of being involved in fly tipping and yet none has been seized throughout the whole of Lancashire in the past 12 months.

“It might seem like a victimless act, but throwing rubbish from a car window or dumping it on a verge could lead to a major problem for a farmer and the food they grow or the animals they care for.”

Last year the CLA welcomed new guidelines from the Sentencing Council, which said it wanted magistrates to make more use of the highest levels of fines for people caught fly-tipping. The CLA is also lobbying government to create a new ticketing scheme that would enable landowners to take fly-tipped rubbish to their local tip free of charge.