Fly tippers to be fined £400 in Blaenau Gwent

Fly tippers will be fined £400 in a bid to tackle a rising amount of incidents in Blaenau Gwent.

The council received 845 reports of fly tipping in 2016-17 - up 17% on the previous year when there were 723.

During the same period, it said local authorities across Wales had 38,614 reports, which cost more than £2.1m to clean up.

Councillors have now agreed to impose the maximum fine of £400 on those who illegally dump waste, under new powers.

A report to cabinet members said there were 77 successful convictions against fly tippers in Blaenau Gwent between 2007 and 2016-17.

It said detection rates across all council areas were low compared to the number of incidents because it was difficult to link dumped waste to those responsible and witnesses were often reluctant to give evidence in court.

But it said Blaenau Gwent had one of the best detection records.

Now, the council has agreed to use new powers under The Unauthorised Deposit of Waste (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2017, which allows waste collection officers to issue fixed penalty notices to anyone caught fly tipping.

The new law gives councils the power to fine offenders between £150 and £400 and avoid the need to seek a prosecution through the courts for minor offences.

The report recommends councillors agree to charge the maximum £400, which would be reduced to £350 if paid within 10 days.

It said they would be issued to first-time offenders only for non-hazardous waste.

Fines would be for eight black bags of waste - up to a car boot load - or for one or two bulky items, such as furniture or white goods.

The new fines will be introduced on 1 April.