REVEALED: Fly-tipping rises in Bolton but fines issued go down

More fly-tipping was discovered in Bolton last year but fewer court fines were handed out, according to new figures.

Findings from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs data shows 1,250 fly-tipping incidents were reported to Bolton Council in 2020 to 21, a 34 per cent increase on the 935 discoveries made the year before.

One such incident, reported in 2019 and brought to court last month, saw a carpet business and van owner have fined a total of £2,530 and condemned by council leaders after leaving carpets and underlay dumped to the rear of Hengist Street and Romer Street.

Responding at the time, Bolton Council Deputy Leader Cllr Hilary Fairclough said: "Businesses have a legal duty to deal responsibly with their waste, this is their duty of care."

"It is vitally important that you check your waste collection provider is a registered waste carrier, just paying someone to take away your waste is not enough.

“We will not hesitate to prosecute if your waste ends up fly-tipped and you cannot provide proof you took the necessary steps to prevent it.”

Despite this, the figures also show that just two fines, coming to a combined total of £440, resulting from court convictions were issued in the area last year down from 41 issued between 2019 to 20.

They also show that Bolton Council carried out 1,105 enforcement actions in from 2020 to 21, including 13 fixed penalty notices.

Source

This really doesn't surprise me after closing all the local tips down and just having the one which is Raikes Lane.

It doesn't help with the new restrictions in place if you have a van and need a permit along with license plate logging.

If you make it harder for people to get rid of it properly then people will simply dump it.

I believe it also costs £25 for a council collection. Why not bring the price down?

What do they expect?

In Manchester you can have 3 large items in one collection picked up once a year for free which is great. They do charge you after that but it's only £27 for 3 more items which is fair enough to me.