FLY-TIPPING across Coventry has increased by 54.2 per cent in the past two years, according to the latest statistics from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
From 2019 to 2020 the number of incidents across the city was 6,955 but it rose to 10,727 between 2020 and 2021.
And with the bin lorry driver strike, there are fears the amount of fly-tipping will get even worse, despite the council now having set up nine rubbish drop-off points.
Ian Rogers, the leader of the Coventry Citizens Party, photographed nine fly-tips in one area of the city during a 30-minute walk on January 3, including Newdigate Road, Edale Way, Peel Street and Stoney Stanton Road.
He said since then – with the strikes – he had noticed it had got worse with more bagged up rubbish piling up.
“Some of it gets removed, sometimes there has been more rubbish in places after the initial fly-tips have been collected,” he said.
“It’s a persistent problem.”
Prior to the strikes he called for weekly bin collections to be trialled in the worst offending areas, a review of bulky waste collections and a public information campaign to inform residents on fly-tipping laws and how they can get rid of their waste legally.
Rural insurance broker Lycetts has warned West Midlands landowners and farmers to take extra steps to protect themselves against fly-tipping.
Usually, if the dumping of rubbish is on public land, the local authority undertake the clean-up and the bill that goes with it but on private land it is the responsibility of the owner.
According to the National Rural Crime Network, the average cost of cleaning up a fly-tip is around £1,000 but Rupert Wailes-Fairbairn, from Lycetts, warned large-scale incidents can amount to more than £10,000.
He added barriers, cutting back hedges and improving lighting and CCTV could all help deter fly-tippers and lead to prosecutions when they did happen.
We contacted Coventry City Council but no comment had been received by the time the Observer went to press.
- Have you found fly-tipping in your area? Maybe you think the council is doing a good job or maybe you feel more should be done to combat the illegal dealing of rubbish. Send us your views to [email protected]
