Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore raised residents extreme frustration on the level of fly-tipping in his constituency, and called for further action to tackle those who are illegally dumping huge amounts of rubbish in the local area.
Speaking in Parliament, Moore cited parts of his constituency which are experiencing huge levels of fly-tipping, with the Keighley Central Ward and the Worth Valley Ward noted as the worst affected areas. He noted specific incidents, including when dead animal carcasses were dumped on Nab Water Lane in Oxenhope, near a site which provides drinking water to his constituents, and an instance where a huge amount of household waste items were left in Morton cemetery (where Sir Captain Tom Moore is buried) near Riddlesden. Moore also mentioned when 225 tyres were dumped on the top of Ilkley Moor last year and mentioned the recent reports of travellers leaving vegetation and green waste on council owned land near the Lido. Moore expressed his deep anger during the debate at these criminals who purposely dump their waste, all of which ends up getting removed at a cost to the taxpayer.
Speaking to MPs, Moore described it as “an absolute disgrace that individuals feel they are able to get away with this”, calling for more action. Specific actions proposed by Moore included a “name and shame” strategy, whereby anyone who receives a fixed-penalty notice should be held to account by additionally having their names published locally. He also called for a “smarter” approach to how CCTV is used to track fly-tippers, with technology being used to explore what has been dumped, as well being finding out who these fly-tippers are so they can be identified more easily. Moore also called for the current £400 fixed penalty notice fine to be increased to £5000, and encouraged local authorities to be more robust in issuing them.
Robbie Moore MP said: “I am fed up with a small minority of fly-tippers ruining the experiences of our area for the majority of people. Keighley and Ilkley is home to some of the most beautiful places in Yorkshire, as well as the country, yet these places are being littered with illegally dumped material far too much. Indeed, our town centres are also being hard-hit, which is causing so much distress for local residents.
I welcome that the Government have announced £450,000 of funding for local authourities targeted specifically at stopping fly-tipping, but it is really important to make sure this is spent effectively. We need a smarter approach to how CCTV is used to prevent fly-tipping, so we can investigate and explore the rubbish that has been dumped, and we can hold the perpetrators to account. I would also advocate for a ‘name and shame’ approach to hold those criminals to account in the eyes of our community. Local Authorities do need to be more robust in issuing fixed penalty fines and I strong urge the government to increase the cap from a maximin of £400 to £5,000 for a fixed penalty fee, to provide more of a deterrent.”
