Council agrees to establish new fly-tipping task force in Peterborough
Since 2017, there has been a 19% increase in fly-tipping in Peterborough.
A new taskforce will be set up to examine the issue of fly-tipping in Peterborough.
Councillor Angus Ellis, cabinet member for environment and transport at Peterborough City Council, asked the council’s climate change and environment scrutiny committee to consider his request to set up the cross-party Task and Finish group.
The committee discussed the request at a meeting on Wednesday, January 15, and ultimately agreed, meaning a new group will be set up to look at ways to combat the crime and review the council’s previous progress.
A report written by Charlotte Palmer, service director for environment and climate change at the city council, states that fly-tipping “continues to be an issue across the city”.
According to the report, since 2017, there has been a 19% increase in fly-tipping in Peterborough.
The attached table gives a monthly comparison of fly-tipping numbers per month in Peterborough since 2017.
Between April 2023 and March 2024, 133 fixed penalty notices have been issued for flytipping offences and 57 cases have been prepared for court action.
From April 2024 to date, a further 66 notices have been issued and 18 cases referred for further action.
During this period, waste management service Aragon has collected 1,492 tonnes of fly-tipping.
The council’s new taskforce group will review the impact of and build upon the recommendations agreed from a previous council taskforce in 2019.
It will consist of one member from each political group and one member representing rural wards.
Group meetings will be held in private, except for evidence gathering sessions with key witnesses, which the public will be invited to observe.
The purpose of the group, as written in the council report, is as follows: “To examine all aspects to combat fly-tipping, review progress made since this issue was last considered by a Task and Finish Group in 2019 and how new mechanisms might be brought forward to help to reduce fly-tipping.
“This will include seeking evidence from outside organisations like RECAP (the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership), other councils and with the input of identified officers explore the feasibility of potential interventions.
“The Task and Finish Group has no decision-making powers, and any recommendations will be made to the climate change and environment scrutiny committee for endorsement to cabinet.”
In May 2024, the council was awarded just under £50,000 by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as part of a nationwide scheme to target fly-tipping hotspots.
The funding was used on further CCTV cameras at hotspot fly-tipping locations, educational programmes, a social media campaign and two advertising vans parked across the city during a weekend to raise awareness.