Newly released figures from Cheshire West and Chester Council have revealed that flytipping rates, and consequently the costs of clearing up such incidents, have soared across the area in the first half of 2024. In the first six months of the year, incidents nearly doubled with 1896 recorded, compared to 967 in the equivalent 2023 period. The cost of clearing such incidents was £99,459 compared to £63,788 in 2023 and taken with the costs associated with clearance action (£34,447 compared to £23,957 in 2023) the combined costs were some £133,906 compared to £87,745.
Commenting, Cllr Simon Eardley, Shadow Cabinet Member for the Environment said:
“There has been a massive and very worrying increase in flytipping across the borough so far this year which both blights the countryside and other areas where it occurs, but also adds to the burden on local taxpayers. Local Conservatives condemn anyone who engages in this illegal and anti-social behaviour which shows such contempt for our communities. But we must also ask whether or not the political decisions of the leadership of the Council are also contributing to the increase too, with the danger of more to come.
“Earlier this week, in a news release issued by the Council, residents were urged to supply video footage to help catch flytippers, in what was termed a ‘crackdown’ in a bid to help bring about successful prosecutions. Whilst this might help, we need much more than that. We need a thorough examination of the reasons for this massive spike in incidents and clear understanding of the types of flytipping being experienced. For example, when the Labour administration first introduced their charge on green waste, we raised serious concerns that this might lead to an increase in flytipping, particularly on country lanes around the area. Has the increase in the charge from £40 per year to £50 this year had a negative impact already?
“The Council has a consultation underway on potential changes to the Household Waste and Recycling Centre service, including the likelihood of introducing charges for depositing some DIY waste. Back in 2022, local Conservatives opposed Labour’s plan to bring in charges for all DIY waste and the Conservative Government at the time effectively put a stop to them locally by announcing a consultation on the way forward. Now, Labour look intent on bringing in these charges in certain circumstances. Just because national rules allow them, it doesn’t mean we should it. We also had the news recently, revealed in an answer to a question posed to full Council in July, that the administration won’t categorically rule out the introduction of 3 weekly ‘black bin’ waste collections (from the current fortnightly practice). This could increase the risk of flytipping further in the future.
“We need action now to tackle this problem. What is the Cabinet member’s plan? It shouldn’t include putting barriers in the way of residents to access straightforward services or reducing the service in some way. With flytipping already dramatically increasing this year, this must be prevented for the good of our precious local environment and local taxpayers.”
