Sefton Council’s ‘Why Fly Tip’ campaign pilot resulted in 93 separate fly tipping investigations
Tackling the fly-tipping issue in Bootle (Image: Copyright Unknown)
A warning has been issued to ‘selfish’ people who continue to ‘trash neighbourhoods’. Sefton Council officials said there are no more excuses for people committing fly tipping offences – calling such actions ‘disgusting and criminal’.
Councillors met at Bootle Town Hall last night for a regeneration & skills overview & scrutiny committee meeting and were asked to recommend a report from the assistant director for highways and public protection, Peter Moore. Mr Moore detailed the performance of a ‘Why Fly Tip’ (WFT) campaign pilot which ran between July and August 2024.
The WFT project was funded after a grant approved by DEFRA and was intended to be a ‘hard-hitting, eye-catching’ campaign targeting the causes of fly tipping and taking enforcement action where necessary.
The local authority said WFT was focused on residential areas with shared back entrances and aimed to highlight the public health dangers of fly tipping, as well as its social impact.
WFT targeted areas bordered by Kings Road, Balliol Road, Hillhead Road and the Sefton/Liverpool boundary, and included parts of Derby and Linacre wards – containing approximately 3000 residential and commercial premises. WFT workers facilitated the removal of fly tipped waste and issued fixed penalty notices.
According to the council report, the WFT campaign resulted in improving awareness of the key issues with the overwhelming majority knowing how to report fly tipping incidents and that fly tippers can be issued a £400 fixed penalty notice and/or prosecuted.
Enforcement action arising from the WFT project resulted in 93 separate fly tipping investigations, 103 attempts to speak to residents on the doorstep and 51 ‘challenging conversations’ with occupiers who were questioned.
Advice was provided and a number of interviews under caution undertaken. The council confirmed there are numerous fly tipping cases now in the ‘prosecution pipeline’.
The Liverpool ECHO has produced a number of reports about the fly tipping issues in Sefton and even worked a shift with the street cleaning team, in the hope of better understanding the scale of the problem. Residents have also continued to express their frustration at what is considered a continued blight on their communities.
Cabinet member for cleansing and street scene, Cllr Peter Harvey responded to the council report: “”Whenever we discuss fly tipping, I believe the vast majority of people do the right thing.
“People are very proud of their neighbourhoods. They’re proud to say they’re from Bootle and want to live in a clean environment – they deserve to live in a clean environment.
“Hot on the heels of saying that, we have to say that there is a minority of people who, as the WFT report highlights, don’t care about their neighbours, and will readily trash the neighbourhood because they are selfish. Fly tipping is selfish, it is disgusting and it is criminal.
“The report also confirmed to us that the majority of people know what their responsibilities are. So we’re now at a stage where there’s no excuses. If there’s fly tipping, they must now know they’ve run out of chances and we are getting tough in terms of enforcement.
“Prosecutions are in the pipeline and ultimately, culprits could end up in court. The consequences of that far more severe than just a penalty.”