A costly mess

COSTLY clean-up: this mess created by fly-tippers in Park Street, Coppice, last year resulted in a successful prosecution

IN one year, Oldham taxpayers spent £400,000 cleaning-up after fly-tippers — but got nothing back from fines.

Research by the Countryside Alliance shows the huge costs in dealing with illegally-dumped waste but records that Oldham Council received no money back from fines issued by courts.

According to its figures — obtained using the Freedom of Information Act — there were 1,243 cases of fly-tipping in Oldham in 2010-11, costing £71,778 to clear up.

It resulted in 4,240 cases of enforcement action at a cost of £134,544.

There were 11 successful prosecutions with 10 fines issued but, according to the statistics, no money received in fines.

Oldham Council’s own figures show the situation is even worse as they include incidents of littering.

The authority recorded 2,755 incidents of waste being illegally-dumped between April, 2010-11, with £400,000 spent on clearing them up. It was an increase from the previous year when there were 2,589 incidents.

The statistics show some councils clawed money back through fines, with Burnley spending £264,573 on enforcement and receiving nearly £70,000, while Salford spent £23,895 on enforcement and received £10,300.

An Oldham Council spokesman said it recorded a zero figure because the fines go to the court. The authority does receive costs but the figures were not available.

Council chiefs say money spent on cleaning up fly-tipped waste could be spent on more positive activities.

Across England and Wales there were 656,000 incidents of unlawful rubbish dumping in 2010-11 — a rate of 75 incidents every hour or more than one per minute — at a clean-up cost of £40 million or £66,000 per day. But only one in 50 cases led to a prosecution, with £692,000 collected in fines.

The Countryside Alliance says all incidents of fly-tipping should be investigated and culprits made to pay.

Chief executive Alice Barnard said: “Fly-tipping blights our countryside — ruining beautiful views, endangering wildlife and habitats and costing the taxpayer millions of pounds.

“The Government promised to end this scourge when they published the Waste Review this summer.

“This is a promising start, however, they need to work closer with cash-strapped local authorities to tackle this blight.

“By raising the landfill tax in the budget and with more cuts coming to council budgets, this problem is only going to get worse.

“Fly-tipping is a crime that perpetrators can get away with.

“We need a co-ordinated plan which ensures people who fly-tip are caught and punished and provides greater support to local authorities and landowners.”

Report fly-tipping by calling 0161-770 6644 or by email to contact@oldham.gov.uk.