Litter strategy ‘a missed opportunity’ to tackle fly-tipping on farms
I like Minette Batters – I think here comments here are highly appropriate about the scourge of fly tipping. The article states:
The government’s new litter strategy is “a missed opportunity” to tackle the £50m rural scourge of fly-tipping as an environmental crime, the NFU has said.
Defra secretary Andrea Leadsom unveiled the government’s first Litter Strategy for England on 10 April. It includes proposals to fine litter louts £150 and issue penalty notices to vehicle owners when it can be proved litter was thrown from their car.
It also contains plans to force fly-tippers to clean up their own waste and councils banned from charging residents to dispose of DIY household waste at the tip.
NFU deputy president Minette Batters welcomed the proposals but said the law courts needed to use their sentencing powers to deliver tougher penalties to fly-tippers.
Under current laws, serious offences of fly-tipping are punishable by an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison. But the NFU says magistrates are not using their full sentencing powers to punish fly-tippers appropriately.