Farmers struggle as fly-tipping is “out of control”

CLA President says the “rural policing system is in crisis”, stating that rural crime will “remain unseen” without proper tagging systems supported by central funding

The problem of fly-tipping has worsened over the past five years according to almost half (48%) of the 620 respondents to a National Farmers Union (NFU) survey.

More than half (54%) said they had experienced small-scale fly-tipping on their farm while almost a third (30%) said they’d been hit by large-scale fly-tipping.

The survey comes after more than 19,000 people signed the NFU’s letter to newly elected Police and Crime Commissioners in May, urging them to make tackling rural crime a priority. 

NFU vice president Rachel Hallos said the results of the survey came as “absolutely no surprise”. 

She said: “Our members tell us they’ve experienced battered old kitchen appliances, sofas and mattresses abandoned on their land, as well as industrial-scale amounts of hazardous and toxic materials such as asbestos. One had 10 fridge freezers left in a gateway.

“For some time now, we have been making the case that action is desperately needed. Rural crime, including fly-tipping, must be treated as a priority. We want to see a consistent and coordinated response across government, including fair funding for rural policing, a dedicated rural crime team in every police force and the formation of a cross-departmental rural crime task force to address the failures in dealing with rural crime.”

The NFU’s arguments were echoed by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA). Its president, Victoria Vyvyan, said that the “rural policing system is in crisis”.

She said: “There’s no serious national coordination, measurement, or even basic kit, to tackle surging rural crime. All forces need a rural crime equipment pack, including torches. We can’t expect police officers to tackle crime in the dark. And rural crime will remain unseen without proper tagging systems, backed by central funding and coordination.

“People living in the countryside feel treated like second-class citizens by law enforcement. This cannot go on.”

“This is not a victimless crime and it desperately needs to be addressed. Fly-tipping is absolutely, indisputably out of control.”

Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive, Keep Britain Tidy said her organisation’s figures suggested that 65% of farmers had faced fly-tipping problems. “They're financially responsible for getting rid of that waste which strikes us as extremely unfair. This is not a victimless crime and it desperately needs to be addressed. Fly-tipping is absolutely, indisputably out of control.”

In terms of a solution, Ogden-Newton said: “We urgently need to bring in Extended Producer Responsibility measures, so for example, when you buy a sofa or white goods, the retailer is mandated to take the old one away - like they do in Germany. 

“If this policy was in operation in here, we believe things like sofas, fridges and freezers would not be found on the side of roads and or dumped in fields. 

“Cleaning up fly tipping costs the public purse more than £1m a year to clean up, and that doesn’t event account for the expenses borne by private landowners and farmers. We think councils need more money to handle waste most effectively, so if, for example, they had the proceeds of the landfill tax, more councils could take back or collect bulky items.”