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On Saturday Kingston Council and its environment partner, Veolia, set up a staged fly-tip as part of their campaign to tackle fly-tipping across the borough and improve the streetscene.
Between November 2021 and January 2022, over 280 Fixed Penalty Notices and Duty of Care Notices were issued to residents and businesses. Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of waste and can result in a fixed penalty notice of £400. It includes leaving items in the street, outside closed charity shops or full recycling bins and putting rubbish out on non-collection days. People responsible for large fly tips, or repeat offenders, may be prosecuted.
The staged fly-tip was part of Kingston Council and Veolia’s Let’s SCRAP fly-tipping campaign and was set up in Kingston town centre to spark conversation with residents on the illegal dumping of waste, reminding them of their responsibilities for keeping the borough clean and tidy. The installation was made up of regular fly-tipped items, such as furniture, a mattress, and black bags.
The event also helped raise awareness of how to report instances of fly-tipping. In a small survey conducted last year 39 per cent of residents did not know they could report fly-tipping. Eighty-one per cent of these residents had never reported a fly-tip, despite 58 per cent believing it was a problem in their area.
The Let’s SCRAP fly-tipping campaign was launched in Kingston last year to remind residents in fly-tipping hotspots to follow the SCRAP code:
- Suspect ALL waste carriers
- Check with the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506 that the provider taking your waste away is licensed
- Refuse unexpected offers to have waste taken away
- Ask what will happen to your waste
- Paperwork should be obtained – get a full receipt
Kingston Council has further installed cameras across ten council housing sites which suffer from persistent fly-tipping. These cameras are motion activated and notify the council when a fly-tip may have occurred.
Scott Edgell, Contract Manager, Veolia SLWP, said: “Our street cleansing teams work hard to keep Kingston clean and tidy, with over 99 per cent of reported fly-tips in Kingston being cleared within 24 hours. We hope this staged fly-tip will help spark conversations with residents on their duty of care to dispose of waste responsibly so that our team can better spend their time proactively cleaning busy town centres and improving residential areas.”
Councillor John Sweeny, Portfolio Holder for Business and Leisure said: “It’s really important that everyone plays a part to help keep Kingston clean, safe and tidy. The vast majority of residents and businesses dispose of their rubbish and recycling responsibly but sadly, a small number don’t. Waste Inspection Officers patrol the borough, collect evidence from fly tips and track down those spoiling Kingston for others. There are plenty of easy ways to get rid of waste legally – if people break the law and fly tip, they will be fined if caught.”
