Published: Wednesday, 17th November 2021
The Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk’s cabinet has approved proposals that could significantly reduce fly tipping across the district.
At their meeting on Tuesday 16 November, the cabinet approved additional investment of around £190k per year to tackle fly tipping through enhancements to service alongside a capital of investment of £112K to purchase the additional vehicles and equipment necessary.
The new service will create additional resources to enable the council to tackle the anti-social and environmental impact of fly tipping across the entire borough.
This includes four new posts to support the delivery of the new service, recruitment for the roles will begin before Christmas, and the purchase of two new electric vehicles that will be used to deal with more incidents of fly tipping promptly, saving a potential 12 tonnes of CO2 a year upon conventional transport.
The borough council will also be increasing its capacity to investigate, fine and prosecute the small number of anti-social people who fly-tip with no regard to the damage they cause or how they undermine the wishes and actions of the vast majority of people who love West Norfolk and wish it to be clean.
Community-led ‘clean up’ initiatives are also set to benefit through the investment with more support made available in the form of guidance, equipment, and the free collection of bagged waste. And, there will educational activities for children and young people to help them to make good environmental choices by reinforcing the benefits which reducing waste and recycling brings.
In addition, there will be a focus on communications and campaigns to reinforce messages around fly-tipping and raise awareness of the ways for the public to get involved, including by reporting incidents.
The investment underlines the council’s continued commitment to protecting the local environment as Cllr Paul Kunes, Cabinet Member for Environment explained: “I am so pleased that the cabinet has approved these proposals which will be hugely beneficial for west Norfolk.
“Not only will the council have more resources and capacity at its disposal to deal with fly tipping, we will also be able to support the many fantastic community-led initiatives taking place across the district.
“The cumulative impact of these activities, by making sure that rubbish is dealt with correctly as every item fly-tipped is left outside of the refuse disposal/recycling chain to decay, contaminate or remain where it lies; will also help make a tangible difference by preventing and reducing pollution of our environment and the harm that creates.”
Cllr Stuart Dark MBE, Leader of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, said: “This is an important step forward in dealing with incidences of illegal and anti-social fly tipping that are such an unwelcome blight upon our landscape. We are investing significantly in education, clean up and enforcement to create an effective holistic approach as well as supporting great, most-welcome, community ‘clean ups’ better.
"This investment is over and above the appointment of a dedicated Cabinet member, Cllr Paul Kunes, for the Environment and Climate Change, introduction of an ambitious ‘climate change action plan’ and allocation of £250K per year to support green initiatives. With this investment making £440K per year new funding on environmental issues, which I believe clearly signals our ambition and intent on this vital issue."