LAWR

STREET SCENE Saving a million in Bucks by tackling fly-tippers The number of mattresses in hedgerows, old sofas on road and other fly-tipped rubbish rose by a fifth in England last year, marking the first increase in fly-tipping in years. However, over 11 years, the Buckinghamshire Waste Partnership (comprising the five local authorities in the county) has saved an estimated £1.8m for taxpayers through "net avoidance of costs" since it introduced a fly-tipping enforcement campaign. How has Bucks done it? Liz Gyekye finds out. ackling fly-tipping is costing local authori- ties in England and Wales around £36m a year to deal with, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). In fact, since the recession councils are now seeing some of the worst cases of fly-tipping ever. It is not unusual for councils to combat piles of dumped items like abandoned tyres, cars and even baths. Figures from Defra show that local authorities in England dealt with a total of 852,000 incidents of fly-tipping in 2013/14, an increase of 20% since 2012/13 with nearly two thirds of fly- tips involving household waste. The figures also reveal the rising cost to the public purse of cleaning up and prosecuting people who dump rubbish, with the clearance bill for local authori- ties rising 24% to £45.2m. Zero-tolerance approach However, Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC), who form part of the Buckinghamshire Waste Partnership (BWP), is bucking the trend and has seen a 50% reduction in fly-tipping incidents since it launched its fly-tipping enforce- ment initiative in 2003. Since the start of its fly-tipping enforcement campaign 11 years ago, the BWP has achieved a clear £1m plus net cost-saving for its residents (via less fly-tipped waste to pick up). The BWP avoided costs of £860,000 and BCC has avoided costs in excess of £940,000 (totalling £1.8m). BCC cabinet member for planning and environment Lesley Clarke says Bucks has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping and this has helped it to crackdown on the problem. She says: "From day one we have taken a zero-tolerance approach and sent out the message that we do not accept this unacceptable behaviour. We have a strong message to every poten- tial fly-tipper: In Bucks, we investigate every report we get. Every conviction is a criminal record and we publicise every successful conviction. " Why should the tax- payer pay for this anti- social behaviour " "We are leading the way with our conviction rate – now achieving a ten times higher conviction rate compared with the national average rate for all English local authorities. For the last five years, on average at least one offend- er has been convicted every week in Bucks. We have been pushing against this anti-social behaviour. Why should the taxpayer have the pleasure of paying for this anti-social behaviour?" Trade waste makes up most of the Bucks' fly-tipped waste (two-thirds). To solve this problem, Bucks installed CCTV cameras at prime hotspots where it had "constant issues". It has managed to cut this trade waste down. Clarke also says that the county is working with "our traders and looking at licences to help them use our waste recycling centres". Taking a tough line on offenders has seen the amount of fly-tipping incidenc- es decrease from 4,000 in 2002 to 1,850 in 2014. Clarke says Bucks has also closely engaged with its community. There's door knocks, leaflets through houses and recycling officers going to parishes. "We are pushing out the mes- sage all the time," Clarke explains. This engagement with the local com- munity has been vital in Bucks' fight against fly-tipping. Around 40% of the county's convictions have resulted from eye-witness reports. However, even though the county is successfully prosecuting criminals and the campaign "is really working", it still spends a lot on the court process. Clarke says: "In 2013, we spent £97,000 in enforcement costs and got £58,000 of that back. That still leaves us with a shortfall of £40,000 – that is taxpayer's money. The taxpayer has to pick that up." Clarke also says that some people are still continuing to fly-tip regardless of the warnings and the mess it causes. To illustrate the extent of the problem, the total tonnage of waste fly-tipped over ten years (now disposed of) is an astonishing 24,261 – that's 2.5 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower! Clarke argues for "more clout" and says that on-the-spot fines will be help- ful. She adds: "If we are going to court we should be able to get those costs back. This includes legal costs, dumping costs and personnel costs." This is an issue that has also been raised by the Local Government Association. LGA Environment spokes- man Peter Box concludes: "Local authorities are remarkably effective and efficient in tackling fly-tipping but the current system works against them. We need a new streamlined system which helps councils and hurts those doing the dumping, one that is nimble, flexible and effective." 18 Local Authority Waste & Recycling December 2014 T

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