Record-high level of fly-tipping in Oldham

File photo dated 04/02/22 of a view of a fly-tipping site near Erith in Kent. Fly-tippers escape any penalty for illegally dumping their rubbish in Scotland almost 99% of the time, new freedom of information data suggests. There were 207,960 reports of rubbish being dumped between 2019/20 and 2021/22, but the Scottish Liberal Democrats said just 2,467 fines were handed out. FIIssue date: Wednesday December 28, 2022.

Oldham faced a record level of fly-tipping last year, new figures reveal.

Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy said the high level of fly-tipping seen across England is a "tragedy" to the environment and to communities.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures reveal there were 5,903 fly-tipping incidents in the year to March 2022 – up from 5,708 the year before and the highest figure since records began in 2012-13.

A significant amount of fly-tipping in the area last year was discovered on back alleyways (55%) and on highways (12%).

Of the discarded waste, the largest proportion was household black bin bags (37%) followed by household waste (35%).

The data also shows £31,970 was paid by councils on removing large incidents of fly-tipping in Oldham.

Across England, 1.09 million fly-tipping incidents were recorded in 2021-22– a decrease of 4% from the 1.14 million reported in 2020-21. The cost of clearance to local authorities was £10.7 million last year.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, said: “A million plus fly-tipping incidents is a tragedy for the environment and communities and illustrates just how little people understand about the impact their unwanted ‘stuff’ can have."

Ms Ogden-Newton added there must be a concerted effort to educate the public about their role in solving the problem.“We need immediate and tough enforcement that targets the rogue traders who are making a fortune by breaking the law, raking in the cash and wrecking our environment," she added.

The Defra figures show about 91,000 fixed penalty notices were issued across England in 2021-22, an increase of 58% from 2020-21.

And the number of court fines nearly tripled from just 621 in 2021-21 to 1,798 last year.

The value of all fines was £840,000 in 2021-22, more than doubling the £330,000 from the year before.

In Oldham, 448 fixed penalty notices were issued last year, up from 298 in 2020-21. And 25 fines were issued by courts in the year to March – a rise from nine the year prior. The total value of fines was £13,124.

David Renard, environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said fly-tipping is not just an eyesore for residents, but a serious environmental and public health risk.

Mr Renard added: “Councils are working tirelessly to counter the thousands of incidents every year and are determined to crack down on the problem, so it is good to see that the number of enforcement actions has increased.

“However, penalties handed down from prosecution fail to match the severity of the offence committed. We continue to urge the Government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent."