2 days ago
Fly-tipping clampdown sees fines double in Brent
Fly-tipping fines have more than doubled in the north-west London borough of Brent, its council has than 5,700 enforcement actions have been taken over the past 12 months, up from around 2,700 the year a result, fines also increased by over £100,000 over the same period as part of its clampdown on illegal waste dumping, the local authority fly-tipping on public land rose by 6% last year, with over one million incidents reported in England alone.
As part of its crackdown, Brent council has been holding what it calls Community Skip aim to remove barriers by offering "community skips" that visit every ward three times a year."We're on par with a neighbouring areas with the cost of a service," said Krupa Sheth, cabinet member for environment and enforcement. "But the reason why we've got something like our community skip that goes around all across the borough three times here to every single one of our wards is so that our residents can dispose of rubbish for free."
On Saturday, along with the skip placed in Tokyngton ward, Wembley, council enforcement officers also paced the streets looking for evidence of who had dumped piles of waste was bagged in red sacks and left for 24 hours - meant as a clear signal that the team had been on the scene."I just hate it," said resident, and volunteer rubbish picker, Ferenc Furger. "Because this is where we live, this is where our children [are] growing up and I don't want that. It's just messy."
Brent, like many boroughs, charges residents to dispose of bulky goods - currently priced at £55 for a collection of up to five Hamlets Council offers two free collections of up to five bulky items per year while in Richmond it is £81 per collection of up to five items.
Brent has also partnered with Peddle Me Wheels, a scheme that repairs bicycles found dumped or abandoned. Some have been handed over to members of Willesden Raja Amjid Riaz, chairman of the Central Mosque of Brent said they planned to get a system in place where people could "take their bikes for free, enjoy them and bring them back for somebody else to share".
In April, Brent council along with other London boroughs, also increased its fines to the maximum £1, fine, known as a fixed penalty notice (FPN), used to be £400.
As a result of all these different measures, Brent council has said fly-tipping is down its progress, its enforcement teams say there is still plenty of work to do.
