Stepping up the fight against fly-tippers
Wealden District Council will be stepping up the fight against fly-tippers with a new digital camera system which can be accessed via mobile telephone or WiFi.
This new piece of kit, with infra facilities for night time filming, has been paid for by the Safer Wealden Partnership, which regards fly-tipping as anti-social behaviour and a menace to the environment.
The new equipment will be particularly useful in the surveillance of exposed areas frequently used by fly-tippers, and monitoring likely tipping locations at weekends and night. The facility will be able to work with the Government’s new Flycapture initiative which operates a vehicle hot list to help identify vehicles involved in waste crime.
“It is a shame that people think ruining the countryside is an easy alternative to paying properly to have their waste removed,” said Councillor Mrs Pam Doodes, Cabinet member for Health & Public Safety on Wealden District Council. “We will be using the latest in technology to help achieve a Greener, Cleaner Brighter Wealden, and wherever we can, punish those individuals who are breaking the law.”
During the last financial year, Wealden had 623 fly-tipping incidents, which cost the Council £23,610 to clean up. In 89 per cent of incidents, clean up took place within 72 hours. Over the course of the year the Council served 30 fixed penalty notices for fines of £75. The maximum penalty for fly-tipping is a £50,000 fine and or five years imprisonment. In April this year a man was successfully prosecuted for fly-tipping in Wealden.
So far this year, the Council has had to clear up 175 fly-tipping incidents.
