Letter: The Council Should Try Harder to Catch Fly-tippers

Published on: 9 Sep, 2016
Updated on: 9 Sep, 2016

From John Cooke

I would like to support the letter sent by Worplesdon Parish Council (see: Parish Council Fires Broadside To Local Authorities Over Fly-tipping Concerns).

Here’s what the parish council has to contend with:

In the 11.5 hours between cycling home for work last night and cycling back this morning, two loads of waste had been dumped in a farm gateway, just inside the Guildford Borough Council boundary, in Goose Rye Road. It is only a few days since the last load was cleared and this is almost a weekly occurrence in this spot.

I don’t mean to pick on GBC, particularly, I live in Woking and we face similar incidents, as do Chobham residents in Surrey Heath.

What bothers me, apart from the fact this is a dreadful, lazy, selfish crime, committed by people making money from moving this waste, and paid for by people who can afford to pay reputable traders but choose not to, is that a council, serious about stopping this, would have found a way of catching the criminals.

Spy cameras can be bought for for very little money, and surely the army or police need opportunities to train surveillance teams who could lie in wait.

Sorry to rant, but fly tipping annoys me a lot: we pay taxes to councils for many services and clearing waste is one of them, I don’t want that money wasted clearing up after people who cheat the system.

Responses to Letter: The Council Should Try Harder to Catch Fly-tippers

Jim Allen Reply

September 9, 2016 at 6:54 pm

I trust Surrey County Council (SCC) are taking notice of everyone’s concerns and are using the first few days of proceeds from their new charges to purchase additional tipper trucks with grabs and trail cameras so they can set them up on the worst locations.

If they haven’t then perhaps they should hire a coach so the SCC councillors can be taken around all the fly-tipping sites and see what damage their policy has done to our countryside in less than 14 days.

I find the short short-sightedness of the councillors who voted this through, incredible.
Dave Middleton Reply

September 10, 2016 at 6:12 pm

People should also bear in mind when paying people to take away their waste that the carrier must have and be able to produce to them an Enviroment Agency Waste Carrier’s Licence.

They should make a note of the licence details and who is taking the waste away – including the vehicle’s registration number. Any reputable carrier should provide an invoice anyway.

Bear in mind that if you pay some fly-by-night character to take your waste away on the cheap and they fly tip it, YOU may well be prosecuted if the waste is identified as belonging to you.