THURROCK Council has continued its tough stance on “disgusting and selfish” fly-tippers by handing out almost 200 fines for fly-tipping reports the LDR.
The borough’s environment report for 2022/23 shows 2,525 investigations were launched and 198 fixed penalty notices were given to fly-tippers The number of fines is far ahead of Southend Council has not dished out any fly-tipping fines since 2020, and is taking an “educational approach” by hitting alleged offenders with warnings and “educational letters”.
The report shows Operation Afton- Working in partnership and patrolling with the street cleansing team to identify fly tipping hot spots and identify offenders resulted in 12 fines for fly tipping.
Operation Cape Jarvis worked closely with Essex farmers and the rural engagement team to tackle fly tipping on rural land. The Environment Enforcement Team, working in partnership with Thurrock farmers, cleansing teams and police, targeted local fly-tipping hot spots in Operation Cape Jarvis resulting in the detection of 50 fly-tipping offences, 13 littering offences and the seizure of seven vehicles for fly tipping.
Andrew Jefferies, Leader of Thurrock Council and councillor responsible for the environment, said: “Fly-tipping is a disgusting and selfish act, and it is not something we tolerate.
“Our officers thoroughly investigate all fly-tips and where evidence is found we will take action to ensure that those responsible face the consequences of their actions. That includes issuing FPNs to fly-tippers, tackling rogue waste services and fining people whose waste has been dumped, whether they fly-tipped it directly or not.”
Mr Jefferies added: “We not only issue fixed penalty notices but also regularly seize vehicles that we know have been used to carry out fly-tipping.
“I make no apology in taking this tough stance and we will continue to work hard to prevent and prosecute fly-tippers.”
Thurrock teams also continued to carry out large scale clearances of graffiti, working closely with the enforcement team to address this ongoing issue.
Finding the culprits of fly-tipping can be time-consuming and costly for councils who have to sift through rubbish for evidence but the report said: “Clearances arise because of service requests coming into the teams and through proactive site visits identifying graffiti.
“In addition, the team works with 11 enforcement Officers to remove fly tips once they have been inspected for evidence.”
Thurrock’s cleaner, greener and safer overview and scrutiny committee will consider the report on Tuesday.
