Funding received to stamp out fly-tipping in Wealden

More than £20,000 has been awarded to Wealden District Council to help prevent fly-tipping from blighting the district.

Delivered by the Rural Payments Agency on behalf of DEFRA, the Fly Tipping Intervention Grant has provided the council with funding for projects that increase the awareness of the Household Waste Duty of Care.

Wealden council welcomes the funding, which will be spent on an advertising campaign helping householders make the right decisions when getting someone other than the council to dispose of their waste and to make everyone aware of the need to use a registered waste carrier when disposing of their waste.

Failure to take adequate steps to check they’re registered could lead to an unlimited fine and a criminal record if the waste is found fly-tipped.

Councillor Gareth Owen-Williams, Alliance for Wealden (Liberal Democrat) and lead councillor for Waste and Customer Services, said, “Fly-tipping is an illegal offence usually carried out by those who are not registered with the Environment Agency to carry waste. Householders can directly help reduce fly-tipping by ensuring they always ask to see a Waste Carrier Licence when they have rubbish to dispose of”.

“We want to keep our countryside, towns, villages tidy and free from fly-tips which blight our landscapes and the environment. They also cost the council money to remove.”

Last year the council cleared 677 fly tips across the district at a cost of just over £49,000.