Jan 30, 2008
Lib Dems put pressure on Council to tackle flytipping
Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson and Cllr Kirsten Bayes, Redlands ward Councillor piled pressure on the Labour Council last night to do more to tackle illegal dumping in Reading.
Questions tabled by the Lib Dems to the Reading Borough Council meeting last night (29 January) revealed that nobody has been prosecuted for flytipping in the last 12 months – despite recent legislation to make it easier to penalise offenders.
Gareth Epps said: “Labour’s record on dealing with flytipping is scandalous. It must clean up its act and develop more effective strategies for reducing dumping. This is an issue we shall be taking very seriously in our programme put before the people of Reading this May.”
Kirsten Bayes added: “Flytipping blights local communities. Often the same sites are used repeatedly by flytippers, forcing local residents to arrange clean-ups week after week. The Council needs to use the powers available to all local authorities to clamp down on this practice.”
Editor’s Notes,
- Fly-tipping is “the illegal deposit of any waste onto land i.e. waste dumped or tipped on a site with no license accept waste”. Fly-tipped waste generally consists of large items of rubbish that are dumped illegally on land instead of being disposed of properly at a landfill site tip, often referred to as “dumping”.
- Fly-tipping, is a group of offences under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act (1990), carries severe maximum penalties (Unlimited fine, 5 years imprisonment at Crown Court)
