CLA in state of disbelief over Defras fly-tipping statement

The CLA says Defra’s statement that fly-tipping is down by 7.5 percent masks the full picture.

CLA Deputy President William Worsley said: "The CLA is in a state of disbelief over the release of this statement. By putting out this news of fly-tipping on public land, it is side-stepping the real problem of increasing concern about fly-tipping on private land.

"The CLA has amassed more than 1,500 signatures from petitions to highlight the problem of fly-tipping on private land. We constantly receive calls from members worried about what to do with illegal waste on their land that in a few cases has been hazardous and is very expensive to clear up."

The CLA Deputy President added: "The CLA has been at the forefront of campaigning and lobbying to bring illegal fly-tipping on private land into the spotlight and had an encouraging meeting with former Defra Minister Joan Ruddock about this in May.

"The bottom line is that more vigorous pursuit of fly-tipping offenders is needed and that local tips should readily accept fly-tipped waste from local farmers and land managers. It may be that public landowners can afford to pay the costs of preventing the fly-tippers but many private landowners can’t"