‘Help us fight fly tipping,’ council pleads as cases shoot up 50%

WESTBURY people are being urged to help combat problematic fly-tipping in the area after the number of cases shot up by nearly 50% in the past two years.

The town council is now appealing to local people to help fight the problem.

There are concerns that much of the illegal dumping comes from people paying unscrupulous traders to take their rubbish away, only for it to end up at the side of a road.

Wiltshire Council said 124 fly-tipping incidents were reported in 2016-17, 40 more than the 84 in 2015-16.

The town is calling on people and businesses to make sure their rubbish is properly disposed of.

Westbury town councillor Ian Cunningham told White Horse News, “Fly-tipping is definitely going up in the area and we are getting more complaints.

“I don’t think it helps that Wiltshire Council is making it more difficult for people to go to recycling centres by cutting the opening hours and limiting how often bigger vehicles can go.

“But the blame lies with people, too. A lot of people are happy to pay someone £10 to take their rubbish away without knowing where it’s going.

“If someone says they’ll do it for a small sum of money they’re not likely to go to a lot of effort to follow the rules. On top of that, there will always be people who do it anyway because they can’t be bothered.”

The town council has reminded people that they  are responsible for checking that whoever takes their rubbish away has a proper waste carrier’s licence.

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Council said, “Flytipping is an issue across the UK and we are determined to eradicate it in Wiltshire.

“Recently, a flytipper in Wiltshire was jailed for carrying out this crime and we always make every effort to investigate and catch the individuals who do this and take action.

“When the public are out and about we’d encourage them to download the My Wiltshire app or visit our website to report to us anything they see. We will endeavour to investigate every incident reported.”

To report fly-tipping do it online at www.wiltshire.gov.uk/mywiltshire-online-reporting, on the My Wiltshire mobile app, or let Westbury Town Council know on 01373 822232.