The Isle of Wight Council is to develop a litter and fly-tipping action plan to tackle the growing problem of fly-tipping on the Island but the news has left Islanders asking ‘are they serious?’.
The new approach includes a proposal for a task and finish group with cross-party representation of councillors, with the aim of developing a strategy and a 2-year rolling plan to crackdown on fly-tip and littering and increase enforcement action against culprits.
However, one local has said:
“Are they serious? They shorten the hours of the tip being open, they only allow household waste once every 2 weeks and they then tell us they are spending money on a 2-year plan to clamp down on the waste caused by their policies. Open the tip, stop denying taxpayers access”.
Another has said:
“No strategy or rolling plan needed. Make it easier to get rid of rubbish and there will be less fly tipping”.
The opinion seems to be the same across the board with another local adding:
“Dumping caused by councils closing/limiting access to local recycling centres … it as simple as that”.
Article continues below this advertisement
Councillor Steve Hastings, Cabinet member for heritage, waste and environment, said:
“There is absolutely no excuse for fly-tipping and littering — it is illegal and seriously detrimental to the environment.
“The action plan will set out additional resources needed to protect the environment, reduce fly-tipping and littering and take action against those who blight our beautiful landscape.
“We have all read and seen about local fly-tipping incidents, such as the recent one at Whale Chine where precious resources were spent on clearing rubbish from the car park and footpath areas and I am as annoyed at it happening as much as our residents are.
“The code of practice on litter and refuse sets out the expected cleanliness levels in different open-air environments over the year.
“Drawing together a single strategy will make sure our neighbourhood services have the resources to maintain clean public spaces and will support the enforcement policies for environmental crime.”
Welcoming the plans, Natasha Dix, strategic manager for waste and environment, has said the main focus is on prevention and putting help where it is needed to support the aim of a litter-free Island. She’s said:
“We have great support on the ground from community litter pick groups and our partners Amey and Island Roads, but we aim to get to where we prevent littering in the first place and I really hope the public will get on board and help us achieve that.
“One important way to do this is to make sure, when using a waste company to remove waste from your property, that they are a registered and licensed waste carrier.
“This is all the more important now, as we cautiously begin the process to opening the Island to visitors and residents alike, so that they can enjoy our beautiful open spaces without the scar that fly-tipping and littering leaves on our landscape.”
Local councils in England dealt with nearly 1 million cases of fly-tipping in the year up to March 2020. There were 525 fly-tips collected by the Isle of Wight Council and its contractors in that period.
Residents can check whether a company has a waste carriers licence on the Environment Agency website. Visit www.iwight.com to book a bulky waste collection or a slot to visit one of the council’s household waste and recycling centres.
No excuse for fly tipping but I think that the resources would be better spent investigating ways to make disposal of waste easier rather than trying to enforce the consequences of bad policy.
You’ll never win against bad policy no matter how much money you throw at it.
They need to go and take a look in the apse heath shop carpark and get the rat infested rubish sorted or make whoever owns it sorted its a told mess
After all we do pay a LOT of council tax to employee councillors to do a job.
The Council are ridiculous! It doesn’t need a 2 year plan! it needs the tip to be open properly again with an easier system – there are so many bays who in the hell knows where to put the stuff. (Operatives just wave a limp hand – no help) Also, the main Ryde to Newport downs road is an utter disgrace, there is rubbish all along it. Get a man out there to pick it up, obviously hasn’t been done for months.
Kerbside and hedgerow litter is on the increase. Increase fines significantly, perhaps starting at £1000 and get all those miscreants given community service the task of cleaning up the mess.
Waste of time until the waste sites take all the rubbish without charge the problem will continue, just buy a truck and start collecting up this rubbish, the councillors could even do a shift or two while they get on top of the problem. Don’t worry I won’t charge a consultation fee.
Now who is spread rubbish about.
Maybe they should disclose how much fly tipping was done 5 years ago compared to the last 12 months and see that their policies are causing it.
Even a lobotomised cretin knows the answer here, no task force (at OUR expense) needed. Open up the tips, make it EASIER not harder to dispose of your waste. Job done. Next.
Have they been up the back off Westridge car park lately
Just open the tips up again like they were before. Problem solved. Is it that difficult.
Will it cost more, than savings made when they reduced opening hours for household waste site!
Cheapskate governance will always shift costs elsewhere. The tips should be open 7 days per week and for good measure , bring back bobbies on the beat.
I absolutely detest flytippers.. Grrrrrrrr!
If people paid a small deposit on vehicle tyres for instance…then they would return the tyres to be reimbursed not chuck it in the ditch, they would be currency.
It would work with a lot of items.
It used to work with bottles, albeit glass, and beer bottles etc. you wouldn’t find one anywhere, they were money in the hand.
If we could tip metal and get the scrap value for it, etc. there would be no metal to be seen anywhere.
It would work.
You can take metal to Cliftongrade at Cowes. Unfortunately the price of steel is so low, that you won’t get anything for it….unless it’s a considerable weight
The most blatant example of fly tipping is that collection of scrap metal that has been left in the water between East and West Cowes!
You mean the one connected to both sides of the river by two chains I presume. I think that was left there by the Isle of Wight Council.
Most of the small stuff is from residents. Too &”$%£ lazy to go to the tip.
I needed to go to the tip the other day, went through all the B/S and red tape to make an appointment. Was told a time, got there on time, only to find there was a queue nearly back as far as the roundabout, which took 10 minuets to disperse, only to be told by some div at the gate that I was late for my slot. Stop grizzling about fly tipping and open the bloody place to suit the time of people as and when THEY need to use it and stop screwing us all for a service unfit for purpose.SOLUTION: heads down from up bott*es, open the tip. SIMPLES EH!
Whenever a local authority needs money they take away something that’s needed, then fine people for finding alternative ways. They restrict parking, so more fines, they close the tip, so more fines. Its what lazy incompetent councils do. Council tax up… Why
Give McDonald’s and KFC hefty bills for all of their litter the disgusting people throw from their car windows and make 1 day a week litter picking compulsory before people can get their benefit cheques! This island is a messy disgrace!
Excellent idea. These companies should be made to provide a container that you bring back and reuse again and again, No container, no junk food.
Why blame KFC and McDonald’s? They didn’t leave it there.
Brilliant move. The facility were already pay to use is now restricted, so fly tipping increases, so let’s pour more money into figuring out how to fix the mess their idiotic policies cause. This one rates as high as the quote from Councillor Dave when queues were forming after they cut the opening hours of the tip way back. At that time it “was our fault” because we went “at the wrong times”. Nuffink to do with them.
The lunatics truly have etc…