Fly tipping - a few facts and figures.

Beckside 2020

Recently, during an idle moment, we were researching on the internet why fly tippers throw their rubbish over the wall instead of leaving it on the road side where we can more easily pick it up, we didn’t find an answer to that! But we did come across an interesting report dated October 2022 from unchecked.uk titled “Tipping Point - Exposing the realities of Britain’s fly tipping enforcement gap”.  It has some interesting data which can put Bradford Council's performance on this in perspective. Here are a few snippets from the report, with pictures of some Keighley fly tipping littered (geddit!) amongst them.
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Incidents​

• “Last year (2021) there were over 1,134,000 fly tipping incidents across the country – more than 130 fly tips every hour.  This compares to 820,000 incidents in 2010-11, meaning that fly tipping has increased by 38% in the last decade”.

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• “There has been a disproportionate rise in fly tipping in watercourses and on footpaths and bridleways since 2010/11; with fly tipping incidents in watercourses rising by 76%, and incidents on footpaths and bridleways rising by 97%”.

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• “Last year, the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber suffered almost double the number of fly tipping incidents (relative to population size) than the South East and South West (22 incidents per 1,000 people, compared with 11.5 incidents per 1,000 people)”.

Damems Road 2021

Remains of cannabis farm below Low Mill Bridge 2022

Becks Rd 2022

​We are not sure why the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber were considered the bad guys on this. East of England had 18.6 incidents per 1,000, West Midlands 15.2 and London 42.7.

Beck Street 2020

Leylands lane 2023

Damems 2021

Rubbish collected by River Worth Friends, Aire Rivers Trust and River Stewardship Company clear up at Mohair Street. 2019.

Sorting and loading the rubbish from Mohair Street clear up. 2019

Incidents

• “Last year(2021), nearly three-quarters (+71%) of fly tipping incidents in England were not investigated by local enforcers, and 60% of fly tips resulted in no enforcement action whatsoever. This is a significant change from ten years ago, when 70% of fly tipping incidents resulted in enforcement action. Now it’s down to just 40%”.

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• “Statutory notices and warning letters issued by local enforcers have fallen by 68% and 69% respectively since 2010-11. Prosecutions of fly tippers are a rare occurrence, with English Local Authorities bringing, on average, just one prosecution for every 471 fly tipping incidents over the last three years, and Environment Agency prosecutions for serious waste incidents falling by 90% over the last decade. In fact, over the last three years, 1.75 million fly tipping incidents in England have gone unpunished by local enforcers”.

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• “The North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber, which see significantly more fly tipping than the South West and South East (relative to population size), have experienced the largest decline in enforcement of all regions, with total activity falling by 30% in these areas since 2015-16. Conversely, the South East and South West, which enjoy the lowest relative fly tipping levels of all regions, have seen a +10% increase in enforcement activity over this period”

​It is clear from this report that fly tipping is a national problem with regional hot spots and is not peculiar to Bradford as some would argue. The problem has got out of hand because cash strapped enforcement bodies do not have the resources to bring prosecutions. 

Aire Rivers Trust and RWF volunteers removing rubbish at Mohair Street. 2019.

River Stewardship Company workers preparing to erect fence at Mohair Street to prevent further fly tipping. 2019.

​Fly tipping and litter are a matter of civic pride, seeing rubbish strewn about the neighbourhood has an impact on how you feel about your community and probably about yourself. We need politicians to step up and say enough is enough  and fund increased enforcement and also encourage a mindset that makes littering, and hopefully fly tipping unthinkable. 

Mr and Mrs. Dalton Lane Bridge. 2020