Date: 11/12/2008
High Peak Borough Council is working with the Environment Agency to step up our campaign to tackle fly tipping and the criminals who illegally dump waste in the Borough.
The Environment Agency and High Peak Borough Council are partners in the countywide Derbyshire Fly Tipping Project.
The Project has recently provided the Council with 100 signs to display at key locations across the Borough. The signs warn that fly tipping is a crime and that the area is under surveillance. They include a phone number for people to report incidents of fly tipping to the Council.
A number of fly tipping hot spots are being targeted to thwart fly tippers. This work, which is funded by the Project, includes: preventing unauthorised access by vehicles, putting up CCTV cameras, and tidying up and cutting back vegetation so that would-be offenders have nowhere to hide.
A recessed gateway at Eldon Hill Quarry is the latest fly tipping hot spot being tackled by the Project. The gates at the location will be moved so that they are flush with the field boundary, preventing unauthorised access to the site and deterring fly tippers.
John Haken, Executive Councillor for the Environment, said: "Previously, other hot spots that have had this type of work done, have shown a 100% reduction in incidents, which not only gives the Clean Team more time to concentrate on other areas, but also reduces their fuel and waste disposal costs."
Paul Slater, Environment Agency Project Manager, said: "We are delighted to be able to work successfully, in partnership with High Peak Borough Council, to crack down on fly tipping in the High Peak. The actions taken at fly tipping hotspots and the erection of no fly tipping signs, across the Borough, will continue to do this by deterring fly tippers and encouraging members of the public to report any fly tipping activity they see."
If you see fly tipping taking place anywhere within Derbyshire, please report it on 08456 058 058. If possible, please note: when and where it is taking place, a description of any vehicles involved and their registration numbers, and what sort of rubbish is being dumped.
The attached photograph shows Timothy Ross, Environment Agency Project Officer (left), and Robin Cummings, Streetcare Manager at High Peak Borough Council, at a recently signed site in Longridge Lane, Buxton.
The Derbyshire Fly Tipping Project, which is funded through the Derbyshire Local Area Agreement Fund, is led by the Environment Agency and includes Derbyshire County Council, the police and the eight local authorities across the county. The three-year project has been set up to reduce the levels of fly-tipping across the county and to develop the capabilities of all the partners to tackle fly-tipping through enforcement and prevention.
Since the launch of the Derbyshire Fly Tipping Project, in February 2008, this partnership based approach by High Peak Borough Council and the Environment Agency has seen fly tipping in the Borough reduce by over 20%.
Figures from Fly Capture, the national fly tipping database, show there were 675 incidents in the Borough between February and September 2007, compared with 536 incidents during the same period in 2008.
If caught, fly tippers can be fined up to £50,000, and receive community punishment orders, or face 12 months' imprisonment.
When fly tipping takes place on public land, such as roadsides or in lay-bys, it is the responsibility of the Clean Team, at High Peak Borough Council, to retrieve the rubbish and make sure it is properly disposed of. It costs - on average - £60 to clear an incident.
High Peak Borough Council operates a subsidised chargeable collection service for any large, bulky household items. For details, go to our Refuse and Recycling web pages, or call Customer Services on 0845 129 7777.
Alternatively, household items can be disposed of free of charge at the Civic Amenity Site (the tip), at Melandra Transfer Station, Brookfield, Glossop. This is open every day from 8.30am until 6pm, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years' Day.
Derbyshire County Council is constructing a new household waste recycling centre at Waterswallows in Buxton.