AM urges Wrexham Council to act over massive increase in fly-tipping

Wrexham Council has been urged to act to reverse a worrying trend which shows that incidences of illegal fly-tipping in the area, have risen massively over the past three years.

The town's Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths, is calling for action following the publication of statistics by the Welsh Assembly Government that show whilst the incidences of fly-tipping is falling across Wales, in Wrexham the number of recorded fly-tipping incidents have risen dramatically in recent years.

Information released by Statistics Wales, show that across Wales the number of recorded fly-tipping incidents in Wales fell to 55,300 in 2008-09, compared to more than 62,513 in 2007-08.

However, in Wrexham County Borough over the last three years, the number of incidents have increased at an alarming rate:

• in 2006-2007, there were 706 reported incidents in Wrexham;
• in 2007-2008, this had risen to 993 reported incidents;
• by 2008-2009, the number has gone up to a staggering 2,116, representing a 66% increase in just three years.

In terms of the costs associated with clearing reported illegally dumped waste across Wales, the estimated by local authorities fell to £2.94 million in 2008-09 from £3.07 million in 2007-08.

However, due to the increase in recorded fly-tipping incidents, Wrexham is bucking this trend with cost to local council tax payers, rocketing accordingly:

• in 2006-2007, the clearance costs in Wrexham stood at £34,568;
• in 2007-2008, this had risen to £41,700;
• by 2008-2009, the figure has gone up to £90,871

Commenting on the latest figures, Lesley Griffiths AM said:

"While other local authorities across Wales are getting to grips with the blight of fly-tipping by reducing the number of incidences, in Wrexham we seem to be slipping behind. In fact, Wrexham is now one of the worst performing councils in Wales when it comes to tackling illegally dumped waste.

"The Welsh Assembly Government is doing all it can to improve the situation by offering advice to local authorities and providing funding for specialist training when it comes to enforcement. The Government has also invested considerably in the Tidy Towns initiative in recent years to tackle fly-tipping at a community level.

"Also, via the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act Government measures have been introduced to enable councils and the Environment Agency Wales to react more decisively when it comes to fly tipping. However, in Wrexham the trend is worryingly in the wrong direction and the council tax payer is picking up the bill.

"In order for this sad state of affairs to be reversed, I believe there should be a complete re-think by Wrexham Council in its approach to this problem. I believe they should look at best practice from other local authorities to see how they have made progress in recent years. There also needs to be a cultural shift locally, to make it clear to those who blight our environment by dumping waste illegally that their actions will not be tolerated. We must not allow the Wrexham area to be seen as a soft-touch for fly-tippers."

The Assembly Government funded ‘Fly-tipping Action Wales’ project, led by the Environment Agency Wales, is helping deliver long term reduction in fly-tipping in Wales. The initiative includes business engagement, education, community action, targeted publicity measures and enforcement.

Members of the public can help by reporting any incidents of fly-tipping to their local council or for more serious matters they can contact the Environment Agency's 24 hour pollution incident line on 0800 80 70 60.