Town’s Fly-Tipping Figures Halve Over Last Year

Wrexham Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths has spoken of “real progress” in the battle against fly tipping, as figures fell by 47% in Wrexham since last year’s.

The figures, released in the Fly-tipping Action Wales Annual Report 2010/11 show reported incidence of fly-tipping down across Wales from 54,841 cases to 41,750 in 2010/11. Figures had been on the rise in Wrexham in recent years, however, incidents of fly-tipping have reduced by almost half during the 2010/11 period, down to 1,759 from 3,279 incidents reported last year.

The reduction is said to be down in part to the work of Fly-tipping Action Wales, the Labour Welsh Government funded initiative, which brings together over 40 partners to work together to stop fly-tipping across Wales. Fly-tipping Action Wales aims to educate all sectors of society on the scale of fly-tipping problems, and inform businesses and householders of their legal duty to dispose of waste responsibly.

The report also shows that the cost of clearing fly-tipping has fallen by 21% since 2007, representing a reduction of £610,527 (p/a). New techniques used in enforcement operations have been cited as part of the success, including use of new technology to combat and capture incidents of fly-tipping. Aerial and ground-based surveillance, forensic dyes and satellite-based Global Positioning Systems have all been used to detect offenders.

As a result fly-tippers are now said to be three times more likely to be prosecuted than they were in 2007.

Lesley Griffiths said: “It is fantastic news to see the tide is really being turned against fly-tipping in Wrexham, as it is across the whole Wales. The joint approach of Fly-tipping Action Wales and the Welsh Government has meant real progress is being made in the battle for tidier communities.”

“We have had persistent problems here in Wrexham and these figures show the battle is now being won.

“The approach of Fly-tipping Action Wales has been to proactively educate businesses and communities as to their legal responsibilities, and to intelligently enforce the law.

“This is really yielding dividends here and across Wales, reducing costs, improving enforcement and bringing figures down across the board. I look forward to continued progress in future and will be watching the issue closely over the coming months.”