Flytipping still costing county money (From The Oxford Times)

Flytipping still costing county money

7:00pm Saturday 3rd September 2011 in News By Thom Airs

FLYTIPPING in Oxfordshire cost £193,950 last year, but only about £5,235 was claimed back in fines.

The Countryside Alliance has released figures showing there were 2,371 instances of flytipping in the county between April 2010 and March this year.

The statistics were compiled using data from district councils across Oxfordshire.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Gordon Roper said he was not suprised, adding: “As far as fines go, people should be made an example of. They should be fined substantially.”

In Oxford there were 820 flytipping incidents – the highest number of all district councils in the county – costing £28,463 to clear up.

There were 984 enforcement actions, costing £32,472, but no successful prosecutions or fines.

Oxford City Council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “The majority of the waste found in Oxford city is mispresented domestic and commercial waste which is tackled through the use of legal notices.

“If evidence is found amongst the waste to show that it has been illegally dumped then Oxford City Council will investigate and, where appropriate, will prosecute.”

In West Oxfordshire the figures showed there were 573 instances of flytipping, costing £26,914 to clean up.

There were also 769 enforcement actions, four successful prosecutions and 1,200 fines totalling £2,227.30 West Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for environment David Harvey said: “We have been extremely proactive in tracking down and prosecuting offenders. Over the last five years flytipping incidents in West Oxfordshire have dropped by 22 per cent.”

Cherwell saw 420 instances of flytipping, costing £19,693, with 816 enforcement actions and three successful prosecutions bringing in £300 in fines – although a spokesman said more was actually received when clean-up costs handed out by the courts were included.

He added there had already been two prosecutions this year, resulting in a total of £1,093.48 clean-up costs being awarded, plus £250 court costs.

He said: “We believe the reason clean-up costs have been significantly higher this year is that a few months ago Cherwell officers gave a briefing to magistrates on how much it actually costs to deal with these incidents.”