RUBBISH DUMPING FINES UP BY 50 PER CENT AS COUNCIL INSIST: DON’T MESS WITH CROYDON
FINES ISSUED by Croydon council in its war on illegal waste have gone up 50 per cent since their ‘Don’t Mess with Croydon’ campaign started in June.
In one recent incident an abandoned truck suspected of being used for fly tipping has been crushed.
A council spokesman said: “The truck was found abandoned in Canal Walk, Woodside, full of several tonnes of illegally collected waste.
“Some of the rubbish was traced back to a local resident who admitted she had offloaded it to an unlicensed rogue trader. “As a result she received a fine of £75.
“The council then crushed the vehicle which was neither taxed nor licensed.
“The owner is still being sought and anybody with information which could help identify them should talk to the council in confidence by calling the fly-tip hotline on 020 8604 7000.”
Another recent successful investigation followed witness statements being received by the council from two off-duty police officers who had spotted rubbish being dumped from a car.
“They provided the enforcement team with the registration number of the vehicle and a description of the driver. “This was used to track down the culprit who paid up as soon as being issued with a penalty notice.”
And it’s not just the fines which are going up – clear-up times are on the increase too, say Croydon.
“Clearance times for reported fly-tips have also improved dramatically. “Almost 80 per cent are now cleared up within 48 hours and only one in ten takes more than three days to be dealt with.
“The number of reports has also gone up in this time thanks to a number of new methods the council has put in place to allow residents to flag up environmental issues in their neighbourhoods.”
Cllr Stuart Collins, cabinet member for a cleaner and greener Croydon, said: “Issuing more fines and clearing the streets as quickly as possible are the ways we are tackling the blight of fly-tipping in Croydon.
“We’re also educating people through our wide-ranging information campaign and encouraging everyone to make use of our free mobile reporting app or our dedicated e-mail or phone hotline.
“The numbers speak for themselves. “Until recently only three per cent of reported fly-tips were cleared in less than two days. “That figure is now 80 pc – and we’ve also halved the percentage of tips which take more than three days to get rid of.
“Of course these are still early days and whilst we’ve already made a significant impact we know there is still a lot more work to be done.”
The reporting app, MyCroydon, can be used for a wide range of environmental problems and is free to download for Android and Apple phones. More information is available at www.croydon.gov.uk/dontmess. (Source: Croydon council press release)
