Throughout 2020 and into 2021 Covid-19 has caused some delays and disruptions to some council services and court hearings.
Despite these delays and obstacles, Kirklees Council is continuing to tackle fly-tipper offences throughout the borough. With teams investigating and prosecuting anyone found guilty of the criminal offence.
There are delays to such an extent that cases first reported in 2019 are only now appearing in the courts. Along with another 12 cases initially scheduled for 2020 – now rescheduled for 2021.
2021 Court Rulings and Fines So Far
Throughout January 2021, Kirklees Magistrates Court settled three cases from 2019. Including:
- Officers investigated a local businessman for fly-tipping in the Ravensthorpe area in 2019. The court fined him £240, along with a further payment of £1430 to cover legal and waste clearance costs and forfeited his vehicle (estimated value of £1000)
- The court fined a Dewsbury man because he did not act on the community protection notice. The notice ordered after several attempts to contact him to remove the waste. Kirklees Magistrates Court ruled behaviour as negatively impacting the local community’s quality of life. He received the maximum fine of £2500 as well as £900 legal and clearance costs
- Huddersfield man dumped a Caravan in Milnsbridge in 2019. The court fined him £288 and ordered to pay the legal and clearance costs of £752.
An additional three people living in Kirklees have been issued fines of between £75 and £200 for offences related to littering, fly-tipping and failure to supply waste transfer documents.
‘No excuse’.
Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “There is no excuse for fly-tipping. It’s a criminal offence, causes an unsightly blight on the environment and attracts pests.
“As these cases show, despite COVID-19, we’re pursuing people where we have evidence of an offence and would like to thank those who report incidents to us.
“Fly-tipping comes down to a few people simply not caring about what happens to their waste and the impact dumping it has on others. It’s your waste, and your responsibility to get rid of it in the right way.
“The council’s recycling centres are open, and we also offer a bulky waste collection service. Charities will often collect large items for upcycling and specialist waste can be collected by reputable companies.
“Remember, if you ask someone to remove waste on your behalf you must check they have a valid waste carrier license. Not everyone who offers waste collection services is reputable and they may dump your rubbish. If they do, and our investigators find evidence, you could be prosecuted too.
“We’re always looking at ways in which we can reduce the opportunity to fly-tip, and more recently we’ve used stronger measures to catch fly-tippers in the action through the use of static and mobile cameras.”
Loading ...