Fly-tipping incidents on the Isle of Wight have increased by nearly half (48.6%) since 2019-20, new data has revealed.
According to the latest Government data released by Defra, a total of 855 incidents occurred on the Island in 2021-22. Of that mammoth total, 718 were dumped on the public highway, 107 on Isle of Wight Council-owned land, 23 on public footpaths, 2 on back alleyways and 2 on commercial land. There were 3 incidents where the location wasn’t noted.
In total 280 more incidents were recorded on the Island compared to just 2 years ago and it’s an extra 106 fly-tipping incidents compared to just 12 months ago.
Fly-tipping is the illegal deposit of any waste onto land that does not have a licence to accept it – commonly this is household or commercial rubbish being dumped at the side of the road and in fields.
The recently published data has also revealed the most common types of items to be dumped by Islanders with 608 incidents involving black bags and other household waste, 43 green waste, 41 electrical, 38 construction, 25 white goods, 17 tyres, 16 vehicle parts, 4 animal carcass, 3 clinical, 3 chemical incidents and 1 asbestos dumping.
Numerous vehicles were drafted in to clear up the mess, including a staggering 133 Ford Transit vans.
A total of 131 incidents saw action taken with just 6 fixed penalty notices served. Despite those low numbers, it is still 6 more than was served when the last set of data was revealed back in 2019-20 – before the COVID-19 pandemic – when not a single fine was issued.
Of those half-a-dozen notices served, as of January 2023, a total of 5 have been paid.
One of the biggest changes since the last set of data was collated is the introduction of time-allocated slots at both of the Island’s tip sites at Lynbottom and Afton Marsh, meaning any trips to deposit your waste must be booked up to 24 hours in advance.
CLA South East represents thousands of farmers, landowners and rural businesses in Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight. It’s Regional Director, Tim Bamford, has said:
“These fly-tipping figures barely scratch the surface of a crime that’s blighting rural communities and damaging the rural economy. Two-thirds of all farmers and landowners have at some stage been a victim. But hundreds of thousands of offences on private land are going unrecorded, with farmers bearing the cost of removing rubbish themselves.
“It’s not just the odd piece of litter blotting the landscape, but tonnes of household and commercial waste which can often be hazardous – even including asbestos and chemicals – risking the safety of people and animals. This often requires costly expert treatment to remove.
“The maximum fine for fly-tipping is £50,000 or 12 months in prison, but this is rarely enforced. This means landowners pay on average £1,000 to remove the waste, but in some cases have paid up to £100,000 to clear up other people’s mess, or risk facing prosecution themselves.
“It seems that criminals simply do not fear prosecution. Ministers should look urgently at increasing the penalties for convicted fly-tippers, and properly resource rural police forces to ensure they are held to account. Without more progress farmers, not the criminals, will continue to pay the price.”
Sam Biles, who farms in Calbourne, has seen numerous items dumped in the village. He has this week said:
“The problem of fly-tipping seems to be getting worse. We are in the Island’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it is such a shame when people dump their rubbish in our beautiful countryside rather than take it to appropriate disposal facilities.
“In the last year, I’ve seen tyres, asbestos, household rubbish and builders’ waste dumped, some of which is not only an eyesore but also has environmental and health implications. At the end of the day, someone has to spend time and money removing this waste. We as local people need to be vigilant and report all instances of fly-tipping to the police and council.”
Funny how stopping drive-in services and making it more difficult to use local waste disposal facilities seems to make fly tipping more likely. Who’d have thought?
There is nothing difficult about using the waste disposal services on the island. Just too many pig ignorant idiots who can’t be bothered to book a slot. Unfortunately the island is filling up with these low life’s.
what’s difficult about it ?
if you can manage to post comments on here, you’re more than capable of booking a trip to the tip
it’s not rocket science,..
Ok,. so maybe it does actually require people to think (something a lot of posters on here seem to find difficult) about when they want to go,.. but really,.. it’s not that hard
just don’t be so feckin lazy!
Time to get rid of the slots then,and with these slots u can only dump 1 load a day
didn’t our wonderful council set up a team to tackle fly tipping about 2 years ago ?
That’s money well spent as they’re doing a splendid job
They cannot even STOP vehicles parking on pavements.
Regent Street Shanklin and Great Preston Road Ryde are a few examples.
There is no Law and Order on the Island, yet the Police want another £15
from our Council Taxes.
Quelle surprise!
Wiktionary:
Literally, “what (a) surprise”. While “quelle surprise” in French is virtually identical to “what a surprise” in English, “quelle surprise” in English carries a more sarcastic connotation than “quelle surprise” in French.
(Put the definition as otherwise the two words were too short to be accepted)
mais en france, c’est beaucoup plus difficile d’aller à la dècheterie
Ici, même maintenant, c’est plus facile
Only on Wednesdays!
As a Council Tax rate payer I demand that there are times when you can go to the tip without booking.
Half booking, half turn up seems fairer.
We shouldn’t have to book. This is part of the council tax we pay for. And i bet not a single councillor has to book just like they don’t pay for parking and all the other perks we pay for them to enjoy at our expense
It’s not rocket science to see that massive increase in fly tipping coincides exactly with the book your dump slot kept even after covid rules everywhere else rescinded.A builder or even a car full of rubbish arrives at dump and turned away!!They are going back to site or house and unload it all! Come on.Time to get rid of this silly petty booking system.Rather a few tailbacks and waits then rubbish dumped over island.
yeah, but why turn up with a load (& no booking), knowing you’ll be turned away ?
if you’re going to do that , you might as well save the trip to the the tip & just dump it where you got it from
The council are not that smart
If they can’t have a dozen meetings it wont happen.
Remove the booking for the tips, would help. Plus be allowed more than one visit per day..
Now what happened 2 years ago……. I know the tip slot booking system started how about get rid of it and see if illegal dumping starts to fall. Yes I came up with this idea took about 30 seconds to think of it and cost me nothing yet I bet the council have held many meetings costing thousands trying to work out why it’s happening
Work out these logics councilors.
Less B/S about tipping stuff and at the times that are convenient to US and when WE want to do it equals less fly tipping. It’s not rocket science, why has it got to be authorism for every thing we want to do all the time. Fly tipping is more to with objection to the system red tape more than anything else, and the tip should be open early morning and late evening for people who haven’t got the whole day to it, on their way to, or from work.
Wouldn’t it be easier if the bin men were allowed to collect more household waste?
It could also benefit the public if the the waste collection businesses were not so penalised by the Council’s very expensive licenses – they would maybe charge less for collecting white goods, tyres and all the other debris that gets dumped!
Not everyone drives, so the dump’s opening hours is not the only problem.
Imo they would fly tip regardless of the booking system !!!!
It’s pure laziness, plus if it’s a business they have to pay , so they charge the customer and then just dump it !!!!!!
The booking system does stop the jam’s that built up ,and that is good, …….
Had a few near misses trying to get past them with oncoming traffic…..
What a load of Rubbish