Rob Cain, Senior Environmental Enforcement Officer introduced his report that provided the Committee with an overview of fly-tipping on Wirral – its causes, impacts, prevalence and the work being done by the Council to reduce the number of incidents in the borough. The report also informed Members of the action the Council had and will be taking against offenders, including future developmental activity to combat fly-tipping. 

The Senior Environmental Enforcement Officer apprised Members that Fly-tipping” was a term commonly used to refer to the illegal, unauthorised and wanton deposit of waste. “Fly-tipping” itself was not a legal definition however offences deemed as “fly-tipping” can be covered by a number of pieces of legislation, the most common being Section 33 Environmental Protection Act 1990 as the prohibition on unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal etc. of waste onto any land where no waste management licence is in operation.

The report informed that, in reality, most fly-tipping on Wirral was committed by residents disposing of waste onto highways, open land or into rear passageways. At its most extreme level, fly-tipping was committed on industrial scales by organised criminal groups, often disposing of commercial or hazardous waste for the purposes of financial gain or tax avoidance. The control, investigation and ultimate eradication of fly-tipping on Wirral was important because it can have a devastating impact on the local environment and detrimentally affect the lives of Wirral’s residents. The report further informed that Wirral Council had made a commitment through the corporate pledges set out in the Wirral Plan, to create an attractive local environment for Wirral residents and visitors.

In response to Member questions, Mr Cain provided the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee with a detailed summary on key areas of the Council’s actions to combat fly-tipping, that included additional information on:

• The Council’s duty under Section 89 of The Environmental Protection Act 1990;
• Removal of waste following legal process, and actions to recover costs;
• Investigations of specific areas of fly-tipping / hot spots;
• Use of CCTV; and
• Information requests to the DVLA to help identify perpetrators when a vehicle had been used to carry out fly-tipping.

Resolved – That

1)  the report be noted; and

2)  the actions of the Council to address this issue be endorsed.