Macclesfield: Cheshire East have 'dismal' record for dealing with fly tipping

By Belinda Ryan - Local Democracy Reporter

19th Oct 2023 | Local News

Fly-tipping in the countryside. (Image - CC 2.0 Unchanged https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_unacceptable_face_of_the_British_countryside_(4656907157).jpg Phil Sangwell from United Kingdom)
Fly-tipping in the countryside. (Image - CC 2.0 Unchanged https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_unacceptable_face_of_the_British_countryside_(4656907157).jpg Phil Sangwell from United Kingdom)

Fly-tipping costs Cheshire East about £239,000 a year but the council has a 'dismal' record for dealing with it and issued just 22 fixed penalty notices for 4,456 offences, councillors heard.

A national league table published by the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs in August revealed that Cheshire East was 211 out of 308 councils when it came to issuing notices (FPNs) for fly-tipping.

And in the year ending March 2022, when Cheshire East issued just 22 FPNs, neighbouring Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC) issued 229 for 4,762 fly-tipping incidents.

Congleton town councillor Robert Douglas, who raised the matter at Wednesday's meeting of Cheshire East's full council, said while CWAC's record was 'not good' at less than one FPN for every 20 incidents, Cheshire East's – at less than one for every 200 – was 'dismal'.

A fountain at Cheshire East Council HQ. (Image - Alexander Greensmith / Macclesfield Nub News)

"While the number of fly-tipping incidents in Cheshire East fell by about nine per cent in the year to March 2023, the average cost of each incident increased by about 14 per cent, meaning that fly-tipping is now annually costing this council £239,400," said Cllr Douglas.

He said that was more than £100,000 higher than the cost to the council four years ago.

He asked for the figures for the year up to March 2023 and whether cameras would be installed to catch these criminals and what other measures the council was taking.

Macclesfield East ward Cllr Mick Warren (Ind), chair of the environment and communities committee, said the council only had six community enforcement officers to deal with a variety of environmental issues including abandoned vehicles, promoting responsible dog ownership and fly-tipping.

A local fly-tipping site found in Macclesfield in August. (Image - Macclesfield Police)

"Due to the size of the team and competing priorities, it is not possible for the team to attend each fly-tipping incident before it is cleared," said Cllr Warren. "The team only formally investigate fly-tipping incidents where there is clear evidence of a crime. For those incidents which are attended, it's not uncommon for perpetrators to take measures to ensure there is no traceable evidence contained within the fly-tipping material."

He said there had been 24 FPNs issued for fly-tipping in the year ending March 2023.

Cllr Warren added: "There are no plans to install cameras as a method of deterring or enforcing against fly-tipping at this stage."

He said two more community enforcement officers were being recruited and, although their duties would not be exclusively relating to fly-tipping issues –  'it is expected it may well have a positive impact on the reduction of fly-tipping incidents'.

See Also: The Clayrooms open their doors in Macclesfield

Browse hundreds of job vacancies on our Macclesfield Jobs page.

Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our Friday weekly newsletter? It contains each week's top five Macclesfield news stories, and one FREE exclusive article?

Simply enter your email address or on this link.

Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 20-30 stories a week for our town.

You can also find us on Facebook and X.

     

New macclesfield Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: macclesfield jobs

Share:

Related Articles

Macclesfield Town Hall, Market Place (Macclesfield Nub News).
Local News

What's on in Macclesfield this weekend: Bethlehem Casuals, Christmas cocktail event and more

Residents living in substandard housing are urged to contact their landlord in writing (LDRS).
Local News

Macclesfield residents living in substandard housing urged to contact landlord in writing

Sign-Up for our FREE Newsletter

We want to provide macclesfield with more and more clickbait-free local news.
To do that, we need a loyal newsletter following.
Help us survive and sign up to our FREE weekly newsletter.

Already subscribed? Thank you. Just press X or click here.
We won't pass your details on to anyone else.
By clicking the Subscribe button you agree to our Privacy Policy.