Joint agency action after 45 per cent spike in fly tipping in North Kesteven during Covid-19 lockdown

Leadenham farmer Andrew Ward has called in local MP Dr Caroline Johnson as he demanded urgent action by government ministers to toughen up penalties on such blatant flytipping which he said was blighting the UK’s countryside.

Having initiated an investigation into the larghe lorry load of materials at the top of Leadenham Hill, North Kesteven District Council says officers are now working with partners on a coordinated, inter-agency response.

North and South Kesteven district councils, Lincolnshire County Council and the Environment Agency are all working together on different aspects of the recent spate of fly-tipping in the locality, spanning the boundary between the two districts.

This has included the latest massive 30-plus tonne lorry load of household waste, dumped last Wednesday night blocking a farm road, known as Pottergate, close to the site of an operational commercial waste recycling centre at the top of Leadenham Hill. Pottergate runs from Wellingore to the A17 Leadenham bypass. The section where the rubbish was dumped between the old main road and the Leadenham bypass is now normally only used by farmers for access to their fields.

Local Paul Sproxton has taken aerial views to show the scale of the dumping and said: “This is not just fly tipping - this is vandalism.”

Another smaller dump containing asbestos material, pieces of a shed, toys and a plastic dragon, was left two weeks ago in a layby off the A17 at the bottom of Leadenham Hill, requires specialist handing by external contractors who are hoped to be on site today (Tuesday).

The various agencies are working together to gather evidence, investigating and arranging for its removal and safe disposal as well as an eventual prosecution. As partners in the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership they say they will collaborate further on joint initiatives to stem an apparent escalation in the incidence of fly-tipping and strengthen enforcement and prosecution.

According to NKDC, in North Kesteven alone, across April and May, the number of fly-tips reported rose 45 per cent year on year to 168, which was a reversal of a downward trend. This coincides with the period when householders were unable to get to council waste tips, closed due to social distancing concerns incoronavirus lockdown.

Typically the council spends around £63,000 a year clearing fly-tipping, but it is expected that this figure could rise to around £100,000 this year based on the current trend, according to an NKDC spokesman – which is money diverted away from litter-picking, road sweeping and other street-cleaning initiatives.

Additional to internal expense, the district council has spent £8,500 on external contractors over three months and currently has £5,000 committed to deal with the current growing case load.

Council Leader Coun Richard Wright pledged to use his position on the county-wide waste partnership to push for a stronger unified approach against fly-tipping; calling for stronger penalties, helping landowners to identify vulnerable areas, strengthening the stance against the individuals responsible for undertaking the illegal dumping and ensuring greater awareness of householders’ responsibilities to only hand their waste over to unlicensed waste carriers.

“Any incidence of fly-tipping is a disgrace and a hazard, but to see something on the scale of that tipped at Leadenham Hill last week shows a staggering criminality beyond belief,” said Coun Wright.

“All the agencies with an interest in stamping this out will be redoubling their efforts to get this removed as soon as we’ve gathered whatever evidence we can to secure a prosecution.”

Coun Wright added: “The sheer volume of cases we’re seeing and the scale of situations like this shows me that penalties and deterrents need to be significantly increased and I’ll be calling for that as I’m sure many others will too as it’s clear that something needs to be done on a bigger scale.

“What’s really disappointing is that behind all of this is that people aren’t checking that whoever they hand their rubbish to is properly licenced. As with everything if it’s cheap and seems too good to be true, it probably is. When you hand over your money you don’t hand over your responsibility and if your waste is later found dumped you may be liable too.

“Lockdown is no excuse for people choosing to get rid of rubbish and to get rid of it irresponsibly. They didn’t need to do this right now, they’ve chosen to. Equally they can choose whether to book a slot to take it a tip to be dealt with properly, to pay for a skip or engage a licenced waste carrier, or not.”

If anyone has any information that could help in the investigation of any fly-tipping, call 01529 414155 or email [email protected].

* Read more on this story here:

Farmer demands action on fly tippers