The Conservative motion for this Thursday’s Full Council meeting seeks to build on the city’s recently launched #crime not to care campaign against fly tipping and to build a consensus on where the council can go from here to put additional pressure on those illegally dumping waste on both public and private property within York.
Cllr. John Gates, Haxby and Wigginton Ward, who is proposing the motion said:
“I think people from all over York have lost patience with fly tipping. It’s blight, it’s harmful to animals and the environment and it costs the council extra to clean it up.
“The point is what more can be done? Our council employees at the sharp end do their best to clean up the mess. We have a menu of council services available to pick up residents’ bulky waste for a moderate fee, and we provide reasonable access to council waste sites to residents and licensed hauliers. We know it’s just a small proportion of residents and businesses who abuse the system, but the impact they have on our roads and open space is all out of all proportion to their numbers.
“We are aware that opposition groups may feel aggrieved with this motion because they have suggested slashing or eliminating residents’ fees at council bulky waste sites as a move which might help against fly tipping and we did not include their suggestions in this year’s budget. We make no apology for not accepting any amendments to the joint administration’s finely balanced budget, nor are we necessarily suggesting now that decreased fees are the way to go- it may be the case that rogue fly tippers would not be influenced in the slightest and that further surveillance of frequently used fly-tipping areas might be more productive.
“But we are asking officers to bring a report to the Executive which fully costs all of the options available and compares financial options based on what has or has not worked at councils with similarly vulnerable rural spaces, and we are prepared to seriously consider all reasonable measures which could help tighten the screws on illegal tipping.”