The leader of a North London council has said they ‘can’t wait to crush more vehicles’ as part of both a national and local campaign to crack down on fly-tipping. The government has given councils the power to use drones and mobile CCTV cameras to identify and destroy vehicles that have been dumped on the streets.
In February Brent Council launched its ‘Don’t Mess With Brent’ campaign, which aims to take a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tippers and litterers across the borough by deploying more enforcement officers and issuing heavier fines against those guilty of offences.
As part of central government’s Plan for Change, local authorities have been given additional powers to clamp down on fly-tipping offenders – which currently costs Brent Council more than £1.5m a year.
Earlier this week Council Leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, was joined by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed MP, and the Secretary of State for Nature, Mary Creagh MP, to ceremoniously crush a van that had been left on the streets of Brent.
Cllr Butt said: “Put simply, I cannot wait to crush more vehicles responsible for ruining our streets. I’ve had enough and so have our residents. Criminals who pollute their neighbourhoods with rubbish need to be stopped. These new powers will be a welcome addition to our arsenal, reinforcing our zero-tolerance stance on fly-tipping.”
He added: “We’re beginning to see the positive impact of our focused efforts, and I am determined to use every tool at our disposal, including seizing vehicles, to reclaim our streets.”
The local authority claims that the campaign is ‘beginning to yield results’. It has issued 30 per cent more fines to offenders than the previous year, and recorded a decrease in the number of fly-tips reported in the borough over the same period, according to council figures.
Previously, councils had to bear the costs of seizing and storing vehicles but under new regulations that will be the responsibility of the fly-tipper and cutting red tape makes it easier for vehicles left on the streets or responsible for fly-tipping to be crushed. Anyone caught dumping waste illegally will now also face up to five years in prison.
The government claims its Plan for Change will help ‘restore communities’ faith’ in the efforts to combat antisocial behaviour. Fly-tipping has skyrocketed by a fifth since 2018/19 and prosecutions have fallen by a similar amount, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It suggests failing to punish those responsible has left areas of the country ‘buried under an avalanche’ of waste.
Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, said: “Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long. The government is calling time on fly-tipping. I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
