More than one million incidents of fly tipping recorded on public land last year – but this is not the full story
The true financial burden and environmental impact is not shown in the latest figures released today from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
A huge problem which affects those living and working in rural communities, DEFRA has today released the latest fly tipping figures from last year (2022/2023) showing that local authorities in England dealt with 1.08 million fly tipping incidents. A decrease in the previous year’s figures of 1%.
Increases have been seen across the region including Shropshire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire.
Unfortunately, we know that the true figure is much higher with these figures only accounting for waste which is dumped on public land and reported to authorities. They do not include incidents of waste dumped on private land, which is the responsibility of the landowner to arrange removal at considerable personal cost.
Farmers and landowners across the Midlands region continue to pay the price of fly tipping.
The Enville Estate is regularly plagued by fly tipping with perpetrators having little or no consideration of the actions of their crime on the environment and wildlife. As landowners, we have to bear the financial burden of removing their waste. We are lucky to have a good relationship with South Staffordshire Council who swiftly remove any reported fly tipping from highways. The penalties for fly-tipping need to be tougher to help remove this crime from our countryside.
The government have taken steps to combat this issue with the maximum penalty being increased from £400 to £1,000 as part of its Antisocial Behaviour Plan and a new fly tipping post within the National Rural Crime Unit. However, the latest figures show a 19% drop in fixed penalty notices issued across England.
The system needs to be inclusive of private land and business owners so that the true extent of this issue can be evaluated and dealt with. The deterrents put in place are not strong enough to dissuade people from committing this crime and they give no thought to the impact of their crime on the environment, wildlife and landowners. It is an eyesore on our beautiful countryside, one which needs tougher measures put in place.