Fly-tipping drops by 7%

Flytipped rubbish on Sparthbottoms Road.

Fly-tipping across the Rochdale borough has dropped by 7% in the last year, according to new statistics from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In 2008-09 there were 1934 fly-tipping incidents dealt with by Rochdale Council; a 7% decrease from the 2076 reported in 2007-08.

However, despite more than 4,000 fly-tipping incidents taking place over the course of the two years, the Council only prosecuted three people in the same period for fly-tipping offences.

While across the UK local authorities increased their enforcement actions in 2008-09, Rochdale's decreased by more than 20%, with 379 actions taken, compared with 479 in 2007-08.

Across England fly-tipping dropped by 9.3% in the past year, with a total of 1.16 million incidents dealt with by local authorities.

The estimated cost of clearance of illegally dumped waste reported by local authorities in this period was £54.9million.

Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “Fly-tipping is unacceptable and a stain on our environment, which costs local authorities in England tens of millions of pounds each year that could be spent on local services. All waste can and should be disposed of responsibly.

“I am pleased to see a reduction of over 9% in incidents, but 1.16 million is still too many. It affects our lives wherever we live, and Local Authorities, Government and people need to play their part in stopping it.”