Flytipping is continuing to plague the streets of Dartford despite the introduction of heftier fines in a bid to deter offenders.

Since the introduction of new government legislation in May, Dartford council has had the power to issue £400 fines to those caught dumping large amounts of rubbish.

Two £400 fines have been issued since then, with 29 prosecutions from the 108 reported cases in that time. Those prosecuted are issued with fixed penalty notices (FPNs) of £400, reduced to £250 if paid within 10 days.

There have been 241 reported cases in total this year, with 58 followed up with FPNs. That compares to five FPNs from just under 300 reported cases last year, and six FPNs from 329 cases in 2014.

In 2013 there were 226 reported cases of flytipping but no FPNs issued whatsoever. Any FPNs issued before the introduction of the new legislation amounted to an £80 fine, reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days.

The council says the heftier fines ‘properly reflect the damage to the environment and local community, the cost to the local authority in clearing the waste material and detecting the offence, and act as a deterrent’.

It is also hoped that they will help reduce anti-social behaviour and ‘create a safer borough in which to live, work and socialise’.

However, some Labour councillors insist more needs to be done to tackle the problem.

Cllrs Jonathon Hawkes, Claire Pearce and Mandy Garford, who all represent the parish of Stone, say Dartford council should employ greater use of CCTV and on-the-spot fines to deter those who dump rubbish.

Dartford Labour leader Cllr Hawkes added: “Flytipping is anti-social behaviour and the council should treat it as that. It damages our borough, damages our environment and costs residents money.

“I want to see a zero-tolerance approach – those who flytip in our community need to be held to account. Dartford council has the power to issue on-the-spot fines to help tackle flytipping, I want to see these powers being used.

“We are also not seeing enough prosecutions in court and the council could be doing more to prevent and deter flytipping. Placing CCTV in known hot spots can help increase the number of convictions.

“I want to send a clear message that flytipping will not be tolerated in our community.”

Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite (Con) said: “Flytipping is notoriously difficult to eradicate because we have so many country lanes and much of the criminal activity is random in terms of time and location.

“The key is to make criminals aware that Dartford ALWAYS prosecutes when there is sufficient evidence to do so and that is exactly what we do.

“If our team doesn’t prosecute, it is because there is not enough evidence to secure a conviction and no amount of carping will change that.

“The call for CCTV is, I’m afraid, another example of Jonathon publicly asking the council to do something that it already does.

“The team use CCTV very effectively but the notion that they can cover every potential flytipping spot is simply impractical and I think most people understand that.

“We prosecute a significant number of flytippers and more than I suspect many councils do. Our officers do a huge amount of forensic work to identify those responsible and drag them to court at every opportunity.

"In calling for on-the-spot fines I think Jonathon may not have grasped that such a measure would require the offence to take place in the presence of an enforcement officer and most fly-tipping simply doesn’t happen like that. If apprehended, a fly-tipper would be prosecuted."

Flytipping hotspot

Much of the Labour group’s concerns centres around Cotton Lane, a known flytipping hot spot.

Cllr Mandy Garford, who recently organised a community litter pick around Stone Crossing railway station, said: “Flytipping has always been a problem in Stone Village but it’s getting worse.

“There have been four large illegal dumps of rubbish in Cotton Lane during the last two weeks alone. We report it when we see it and the rubbish is removed, but it’s not long before new loads appear.

“Dartford council should now be thinking about how we prevent this happening in future. Residents shouldn’t have to put up with it.

“Using CCTV to catch offenders could be one way of tackling the problem. I’d also support more signs warning people that dumping rubbish is illegal and they could be fined.”
You can report flytipping online at dartford.gov.uk/forms/report-flytipping-accumulation-of-rubbish.

As of Tuesday, there had been 18 cases reported since Friday July 29 in Attlee Drive, Beacon Drive, two in Bean Road, Bedale Walk, Birchwood Road, Boleyn Way, Broad Road, East Hill, Heath Lane, Keyes Road, Leonard Avenue, Littlebrook Manor Way, Market Street, Milton Street, Orchard Road, Puddledock Lane and Shellbank Lane.

You can also download the LitterGram app, which allows users to snap and share pictures of places where trash has been dropped and inform councils where to send their clean up teams.