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Friday, 04 March 2005
MP calls for councils to be given new powers to tackle fly-tipping
Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, has called on the Government to include a new clause in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill that would impose a ‘duty of care’ on householders to ensure that any domestic waste is disposed of in an appropriate and lawful fashion.

The MP has been approached by Dartford Borough Council who are concerned by the growing cost of dealing with domestic waste that has been fly-tipped, and want stronger powers to deal with the problem.

The Council currently spends around £80,000 a year - which amounts to 75% of its annual waste clearance budget - clearing up domestic waste such as household building rubble, tree cuttings and disused kitchen appliances that have been dumped illegally.

Council Officers would like to see householders to be placed under a ‘duty of care’ to dispose of their waste in an appropriate and lawful fashion – as the producers of industrial or commercial waste currently are. This would then give the Council and other enforcement agencies the ability to take action against people whose refuse ends up being dumped illegally by a contractor that they have employed to take away their rubbish.

“Fly-tipping is a major problem in Dartford and in many other parts of the country. Not only is it a significant eyesore, that damages the appearance of our towns and countryside, it also absorbs a great deal of Council time and resources. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill as it is will significantly improve our ability to tackle the problem of fly-tipping, but I think that the Government can go further still. By placing a ‘duty of care’ on householders to dispose of their rubbish in a responsible and legal fashion, we will hopefully deter people from employing unscrupulous, cowboy operators to take away their rubbish - ‘no questions asked,” said Dr Stoate.

Dr Stoate is also calling for householders to be required to ensure that the individual who they employ to dispose of their waste has a valid ‘carriage of waste’ certificate and also to record the details of the person and the vehicle that takes their waste away. The MP also believes that all carriers of waste should be required to carry certification relating to their loads, including details of origin and disposal points, whilst they are transporting the waste.

Notes

Dartford Borough Council has received positive feedback about the introduction of a ‘duty of care’ on householders from 12 local regulatory authorities in North Kent and SE London including Greenwich and Southwark London Boroughs, Kent County Council and Kent Police.

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 confers a ‘duty of care’ on producers of industrial or commercial waste to dispose of it in an appropriate and lawful fashion; private householders however are exempted from this duty of care.
 
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© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
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