PR 298

12 December 2006

For Immediate Release

A plea to residents to help the Borough Council catch fly-tippers dumping rubbish in their streets has so far fallen on deaf ears.

The Council has delivered letters to 65 houses in and around Devonshire Road, Duncan Road and Victoria Road, Great Yarmouth, asking for residents’ permission to set up covert CCTV cameras in the windows of their houses to catch the tippers in action.

“We know that local people are fed up with fly-tipping at a number of hotspots in this area and the use of our small  surveillance cameras would help us to catch the culprits. The best place for these cameras would be in the windows of nearby houses, but so far our letters have not brought any response,” said John Hemsworth, Head of Environmental Health for Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

“I ask people to think carefully whether they can help. They would be doing a great service to everyone living in the area. The cameras are small and virtually invisible from outside, and we would not reveal the identities of residents who had allowed a camera to be sited on their premises. The letter we have delivered explains that residents would not themselves be involved in any court cases that might follow. The Environmental Rangers would follow up all the leads and take enforcement action to the extent the evidence will allow”

The Council is also warning residents across the Borough that it will be getting tough with people who use unlicensed operators for their waste disposal. This follows a case where cowboy operators went door to door offering to dispose of people’s waste at a knockdown price, and promptly fly-tipped the material on land in the Borough for all ratepayers to pick up the cost of clearance and disposal.

Enquiries resulting from material left in waste dumped on the old A149 between Caister and Rollesby enabled the Council’s Environmental Rangers to track down one of the householders involved. Following formal interview the person concerned received a Formal Caution for failing to take proper steps to ensure her waste was being taken for proper disposal. This remains on record for future reference should the person be involved in a future incident

The Council is warning that those not disposing of their waste correctly will face prosecute in future. Householders could face a fine of up to £5,000 for failing to check that the person taking away their waste is a bone fide licensed operator.

Miguel Fish, Environmental Ranger, said people should always be suspicious if someone offers to dispose of waste on the cheap. “Householders have a legal duty to ensure that anyone removing waste is properly licensed. This is the only way to ensure that your waste is disposed of properly, because if it ends up being fly-tipped, you could be the one who is prosecuted and facing a hefty fine. It is useful to check out those who remove waste and it is a good idea to keep details of vehicle registration numbers for future reference if a problem subsequently occurs.”

Issued by:
John Birchall
Joint Information and Publicity Officer
Great Yarmouth Borough Council
01493 846513