Successful prosecutions after more fly tipping offences
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has re-iterated its zero-tolerance approach to fly tipping offences after two more residents were prosecuted – and ordered to pay a combined total of more than £840.
The Council is continuing to clamp down on litter louts and fly-tippers in a bid to make the County Borough cleaner and greener. The drive includes the ‘Who Done It?’ campaign – where images taken by Enforcement Officers, of people the Council wants to speak to in connection with offences, are posted online.
Figures published in May 2017 showed the Council recycled 64% of waste in 2016 – a Local Authority record which is above the Welsh average and Welsh Government’s 2016-17 target of 58%. But, while more and more residents are rising to the challenge, some continue to commit waste-related offences.
During separate hearings at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on July 12, 2017, two residents pleaded guilty to waste offences in the Rhondda area.
Lewis Young of Lower Terrace, Stanleytown, was charged with Fly Tipping under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. He knowingly and intentionally illegally disposed of controlled waste at Heol Pendyrus, Penrhys, on or before November 2, 2016.
The incident came to the Council’s attention after an Enforcement Officer found five black bags containing refuse belonging to Mr Young on a grassed lay-by area at Heol Pendyrus, on November 2. The area is a known hot-spot for waste offences, where there is a ‘no fly tipping’ sign warning people of the offence’s penalties.
Mr Young was invited to attend an interview by the Council – where he admitted leaving the bags at Heol Pendyrus. He later entered a guilty plea to Fly Tipping during Court proceedings.
Mr Young was fined £250, and ordered to pay £208.86 in costs and a victim surcharge of £30 – meaning he had to pay a total of £488.86.
Sophie Louise Evans, of Edward Street, Maerdy, was charged with Failure to Control Waste under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. She paid two men to remove waste from her property on or before November 21, 2016. The waste was dumped at the old Maerdy Colliery site access road.
Dumped cardboard boxes found at the old Maerdy Colliery site access road
On November 21, a Council Enforcement officer was inspecting the road in the Maerdy area, and discovered a number of cardboard boxes. The waste was on the grass bank along the roadside, and also in the culvert.
Ms Evans was invited to an interview by the Council, where she admitted paying two men to take away the waste from her property. Ms Evans later pleaded guilty to Failure to Control Waste during Court proceedings.
Ms Evans was fined £120, and ordered to pay £208.86 in costs and a victim surcharge of £30 – meaning she had to pay a total of £358.86.
Nigel Wheeler, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Director for Highways and Streetcare Services, said: “These successful prosecutions send a clear message that fly tipping will not be tolerated, and are the latest in a series of cases where the Council has taken further action when residents have dumped, or failed to control, their waste items.
“They follow separate cases in June where three residents were ordered to pay a combined total of more than £3,600 for waste offences.
“More and more people in Rhondda Cynon Taf are rising to the Council’s recycling challenge, which saw a record recycling performance in 2016, when 64% of overall waste was recycled. But, a small number of people are still not acting responsibly, and these further prosecutions demonstrate that the Council is not afraid to take further action following waste offences.”
THE COUNCIL SAID, IT IS NOT AFRAID TO TAKE FURTHER ACTION FOLLOWING WASTE OFFENCES
AS LONG AS WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT WHERE WE WANT
CONTRACTORS WORKING FOR RHONDDA CYNON TAF COUNCIL START REMOVING ILLEGAL WASTE FROM CWMAMAN BEAUTY SPOT
