Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, is calling on Ministers to ensure fly tipping criminals are punished to the full extent of the law.
Gavin started a campaign on the issue after a series of South Staffordshire residents got in touch with him about multiple incidents of fly tipping near their homes.
He has written to The Rt. Hon Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Justice, to urge stricter guidance to be put in place regarding the use of maximum penalties by judges.
The maximum penalties for fly-tipping on summary conviction are currently a £50,000 fine and/or twelve months’ imprisonment. On conviction in a Crown Court the maximum penalties are an unlimited fine and/or five years imprisonment.
Both the Environment Agency and local authorities have powers to tackle fly-tipping. The Environment Agency investigates larger scale fly-tipping incidents involving more than a lorry/tipper load of waste, hazardous waste and/or fly-tipping by organised gangs of waste criminals.
Gavin said: “I want the book thrown at these environmental vandals. The law says that they can go to jail for five years and I want them to start setting an example for these people that destroy our countryside and have no care or consideration for the people who live in our villages or the farmers whose land they so often dump the rubbish on.
“If people knew that if they were caught it would be extremely likely they would be going to prison for five years or have a £50,000 fine levelled at them, I think some of these lowlifes would think again.”
South Staffordshire District Council has made a concerted effort in recent months to combat fly tipping in South Staffordshire. In September 2013, it launched an appeal for witnesses to help find the people responsible for fly tipping 62 tonnes of rubbish in the area over the course of just one week.
The majority of the waste (32 tonnes) was dumped near sewage works in Wombourne, where the pile was ‘almost’ as tall as the lorry used to clear it. The remainder was found at Himley Sewage Works. The total amount of rubbish dumped was ‘enough to fill 15 lorry loads’ and the estimated cost of clean-up for the local taxpayer was in the region of £6000.
The Council has developed an online tool for residents to report incidents of fly tipping, which utilises an interactive map where they can pinpoint the affected site. This can be accessed via the main website at www.sstaffs.gov.uk/misc_pages/report_flytipping.
Residents can also report incidents via telephone on 01902 696200, by fax on 01902 696305 or by e-mail at environmentalcrimesr@sstaffs.gov.uk.