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Getting to Grips with the Fly-Tippers

24 April 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970
 

The Control of Waste (Dealing with Seized Property) Regulations 2015 has been welcomed by vacant property and facilities managing companies as a long overdue introduction of tougher statutory laws for fly-tipping, for which vacant properties have been especially vulnerable.

The new Act came into force on 6 April 2015 and broadens the range of offences for which a vehicle involved in fly-tipping can be seized, removing the need for a warrant to be obtained before seizure, as well as setting out the circumstances under which the enforcement authority may sell or destroy seized property.

The scale of the current problem can be shown in three sets of figures:

  • In 2014 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reported a 20 % increase in fly-tipping on the previous year.
  • Local authorities recorded 852,000 incidents of fly-tipping in the UK.
  • The incidence is the equivalent of rubbish being dumped every 40 seconds.

“Combine those statistics with the number of outdoor and non-dwelling fires the fire services have to deal where rubbish has been set alight – it’s well over 300 every day – and it’s easy to see why this is a serious issue – environmentally, for safety and for cost, both human and financial,” said Anthony Owen, MD, VPS, the vacant property specialist company. “Because we specialise in managing vacant properties which are among the most vulnerable places for both fly-tipping and arson attacks, we have always urged FMs and owners to clear empty sites of combustible materials and to keep checking they remain clear.”

Picture: New legislation that came into effect this month aims to give authorities much stricter powers to deal with the curse of fly-tipping.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 24 April 2015

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