Brighton & Hove flytipping fines double in 2017

Brighton & Hove City Council is one of the most active in the country for tackling flytipping.

In figures collected by the Press Association, Brighton & Hove issued 276 fines to flytippers in the 12 months to May 2017, the fifth highest in the country. The council’s updated figures show that 618 fines have been issued to date compared with 196 last financial year.

Improving the environment is a priority for the city council and officers have been highlighting the environmental impact of all kinds of discarded waste, from dog poo to litter.

Enforcement has also been stepped up. Since March 2016 more than 5,000 fixed penalty notices were issued. Of these 594 were for flytipping, including 346 where businesses were using council owned bins to illegally dispose of waste. Fines for flytipping are set at £300.

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the city’s environment committee, said:

“Residents are fed up with people simply dumping things on the street, around existing bins or on our open spaces, creating eyesores and leaving it up to the council to clear up and taxpayers to pay for it.

“On average we get about 160 flytips reported to us each month, not including those identified and cleared by our streets teams. The message is that those responsible will be fined and in extreme cases prosecuted.”

Staff from the council’s Cityclean have highlighted the issue by putting ‘environmental crime’ tape round flytips. This is part of their Crime not to Care campaign which has also involved community engagement and the installation of CCTV at known flytip ‘hotspots.’

Due to the increased awareness there has been a big jump in reported flytips from 466 in the first quarter of the year to 776 from April to June.

Top five councils issuing fines for flytipping:

Westminster                                       747
Haringey                                             288
Redbridge                                           284
Waltham Forest                                281
Brighton & Hove City Council       276

What it costs the council:

Based on average weights, the waste disposal costs for large bulky items (not including staffing, vehicle costs or overheads), is:

Double mattress        40kg   £4.80
Sofa                              40kg   £4.80
Fridge/freezer           45kg   £5.40
Washing Machine    75kg   £9.00

On average a cage vehicle carrying approximately 750kg will tip four times per day averaging three tonnes per day of fly-tipping.  That’s more than 1,000 tonnes per year for one cage van at a cost of £120,000 for waste disposal alone.