Gloucestershire area whacks up fines for fly-tipping or littering

Oxford Street residents in Gloucester are plagued with fly-tipping problem
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A Gloucestershire council is increasing fines for people caught fly-tipping and littering. Forest of Dean District Council is to increase fixed penalty charges for the criminal behaviour to help to protect the environment and to keep communities across the Forest of Dean safe.

Cabinet Member for Thriving Communities, Cllr Jackie Dale said: “The Forest of Dean is a beautiful place to live, work and bring up our families. We are fortunate to have an excellent waste collection service and our friendly district waste depo near Coleford.

“These services help us dispose of our waste as efficiently and effectively as possible. Unfortunately, we do suffer from people and businesses disposing of waste illegally. Our Street Warden and Counter Fraud Enforcement teams work incredibly hard year-round to identify those responsible for littering and fly-tipping and use the evidence they find to help prosecute and issue fines to deter others from doing this in the future.

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“We have decided to increase the fines for those who break littering and fly-tipping laws to keep our communities and the environment here in the Forest of Dean safe, clean and tidy. If any resident finds a suspected fly-tip, please get in touch with our Street Warden Team so that it can be investigated quickly and correctly.

“Help us keep our Forest of Dean a place to be proud of and a beautiful and safe place to live for all.”

The Government has laid a statutory instrument increasing the upper limits for various fixed penalty notices (FPNs). This means that in the Forest of Dean, the maximum amount those caught fly-tipping could be fined will increase from £400 to £1,000. The maximum amount those who litter or graffiti could be fined will increase from £150 to £500. The maximum amount those who breach their household waste duty of care could be fined will increase from £400 to £600.

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The council has the option to offer a lesser charge for a Fixed Penalty Notice that encourages early payment and avoids sending cases to court that takes up large amounts of resource in officer time. The Fixed Penalty Notices that the council uses remain appropriate for small scale fly-tipping, rather than larger scale deposits which continue to be dealt with through the court system.

Residents who find illegally discarded waste can contact the council’s street warden team where it can then be investigated. Details of this can be found here: https://www.fdean.gov.uk/environment/fly-tipping/