A decision will be made next week to allocate extra funding to tackle fly-tipping in MK, as Milton Keynes Council unveils a new plan setting out 15 actions to reduce fly-tipping in problem areas.
Fly-tipping is on the rise nationally and locally, and over the last year the council has received over 5,800 reports of fly-tipping, from household rubbish right up to hazardous dumped commercial waste which can cost thousands to deal with.
In response the Council plans to strengthen its enforcement and education work, invest more in CCTV to catch those committing environmental crimes, give new powers to local areas for community clear outs and introduce new litter wardens with powers to issue on the spot fines, plus more besides.
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Cabinet on 7 September will receive the action plan alongside a proposal to allocate an extra £200,000 over the coming year to boost the work being done and increase the Council’s enforcement team to seven people.
Cllr Lauren Townsend, Cabinet Member for the Public Realm said: “Tackling fly-tipping is a priority and we will not stand by and let it worsen. Here in Milton Keynes we’ve received 5,819 fly-tipping reports from the public since March 2020. This is the highest level since 2015.
"Sadly we know a minority of people will always continue to fly-tip, but we’ll be investing more in education and enforcement to reduce it to as low a level as possible, putting our biggest efforts into the places in MK we know are fly-tipping hotspots.”
Over the last year, the Council has issued 129 Fixed Penalty Notices for waste crimes, including 53 for fly-tipping.
Milton Keynes Magistrates heard five cases of fly-tipping in the last year, issuing penalties totalling over £5,000 and giving one offender 120hrs “community payback.”
There are 10 cases at MK Magistrates awaiting prosecution for illegal dumping of waste.
