Labour Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, says:
“Fly-tipping is a crime that stems from laziness and the selfish view that someone else will always clean up your mess. It won’t be tolerated in our borough and our officers work exceptionally hard to combat it.
“But as residents we also have a responsibility to do our due diligence when arranging disposal of waste. By ensuring that we only deal with licensed and trustworthy carriers we ensure that we’re not contributing to the problem. As with many trade services, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, so please do your research and carry out the simple checks, or you might be left with a hefty fine.”
Labour Councillor Jeanie Bell, Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities, says:
“When it comes to our fly-tipping prosecution work we tirelessly investigate every case, and the information that residents can provide is invaluable. I’d urge anyone who finds tipped waste or who sees waste being dumped to contact the council as soon as possible, noting key details like vehicle registrations, a description of the tipper, and where and when it happened, so that we can hold those responsible to account.”
Fly-tipping, or illegal dumping of waste, is an unsightly blight on the community that causes harm to the environment, residents and local businesses and can be costly to clear away.
Fly-tipping enforcement has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In the months of October to December last year 46 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued for fly-tipping offences.
The new #ThinkTwice campaign highlights that even if you’re not the one dumping waste, you could be breaking the law and be left with a hefty fine if you hand waste over to someone who isn’t licensed if they dump it where they shouldn’t.
If you pay someone to dispose of your waste, make sure they’re operating legally. Householders have a ‘duty of care’ to check that someone they pay to remove waste from their property is a licensed waste carrier.
You can easily check if someone has a waste carrier’s licence online:
- Ask for their license number and check it here.
- When they come to collect your waste, ask them to provide a waste transfer note or a receipt. You can download and print a template here.
Have you seen dumped waste or someone fly-tipping in St Helens Borough? Report it to the council online, report via the mobile app found by searching ‘St Helens Borough Council’ in your app store, or call 01744 676789.
For more information visit www.sthelens.gov.uk/flytipping
Residents can arrange to have their bulky rubbish collected by the council. Book a collection online.