In Brent in north London, ways of reporting fly-tipping include a new mobile app for residents and specialist handheld devices for council contractors. This has led to an 84 per cent increase in reports since the new systems were introduced in April 2014, at the start of the council’s new public realm contract with Veolia. The new system provided evidence of 12,912 fly-tips in 2014/15, up from 7,001 in 2013/14, according to the council.
Eleanor Southwood, Brent Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “We are taking a proactive approach to tackling fly-tipping in the borough and have made it far easier for our contractors and residents to identify dumped rubbish on our streets which is why we have seen the increase in reports over the past year.
“I am very grateful to all of the residents who take pride in their streets and help us to make Brent cleaner and greener by reporting dumped rubbish to us using the smartphone app. This is allowing our crews to clean up the mess swiftly once we know about it. However, we are also tackling the problem at its root as there is simply no excuse for fly-tipping, especially given that the council provides regular waste collection services and a bulky waste collection service.
“It is totally unacceptable that a minority of individuals and businesses choose to illegally dump rubbish on our streets. We have a good track record in prosecuting fly-tippers and, with residents help, will continue to proactively tackle this menace.”
