Fly Tipping Sentencing Falls Short
Given the well-founded community concern about the blight of fly-tipping, it is nothing short of staggering that when someone is caught dumping 36 tonnes of asbestos contaminated rubble on a public highway in a nearby local authority, the courts decided a suspended prison sentence was somehow appropriate along with a meagre £1,900 fine (why not the maximum £5,000?) and costs awarded of £2,500 when it cost the council at least £8,000 to it clear up!
If we are to tackle the scourge of fly-tipping effectively, it needs a joined-up approach where councils, the Environment Agency and the courts are all on the same wavelength. It is totally despairing for residents and local authorities alike to spend vast amounts of time, effort and money to eventually catch elusive fly-tippers, only for the sanction to be so weak that it undermines the efforts of all of us. The message to those who treat our lanes and open spaces as civic amenity dumps needs to be consistent, strong and unwavering.
Cllr Clarence Barrett
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