A DALE landowner says something needs to change to combat the worrying national rise in fly-tipping after falling victim to illegal rubbish dumpers last week.
Sir Edward Milbank, who owns Barningham Estate, said he had to enlist the help of Durham County Council to help clear up and remove rubbish dumped in a protected beauty spot on his land.
He added: “I can’t help thinking that if people could take their rubbish directly to a rubbish tip without having to pay a fee, then fly-tipping would be a thing of the past.
“Some kind person generously donated his old chest freezer and fridge to the wildlife of Gill Beck, a site of special scientific interest and ancient woodland and one of the most beautiful and secluded valleys in the north of England. It beggars belief that anyone can think this behaviour is acceptable.”
His comments come as Defra released figures showing there were more than one million incidents of fly-tipping on public land in England in the past year, a rise of eight per cent.
However the CLA, a lobby group for landowners, says the statistics don’t reflect the true scale of the crime as they don’t include reports of fly-tipping on privately owned land.
CLA director general Sarah Hendry said: “They also don’t show the huge emotional and financial cost of this crime.
“Our members are all too tired of not only cleaning up other people’s rubbish but paying for the privilege of doing so. It costs on average £1,000 to clean up each incident. With many rural businesses suffering multiple incidents, it can quickly affect the bottom line dramatically.”
Some 33 per cent of all fly-tipping incidents in the past year were equivalent in size to a small van load. Tipper lorry load sized incidents are the most expensive to clean-up, with just three per cent of incidents (36,000) costing councils £12.9million to deal with.
Across all local authorities in England, 76,000 fixed penalty notice fines were issued, which only totalled just over £1million.
Ms Hendry added: “We need a joined up approach to the issue.
“The introduction of fees at many rubbish tips and recycling centres has meant we’re now seeing the rise of organised criminal fly-tipping. It is repeated and growing in scale and it is vital that rural police forces recognise the changing nature of this crime and respond accordingly.
“Finally, we need to see some changes to the law and ensure that landowners are no longer legally liable when waste is fly-tipped on their land.
“This needs to be coupled with financial and logistical support to help victims clean up waste which has nothing to do with them.”
Waste from residents is accepted without charge at Durham County Council tips but businesses must pay.
