THE leader of Caerphilly council has vowed to do whatever it takes to tackle fly-tipping carried out by ‘irresponsible environmental bandits’.

Plans to recoup clean-up costs for rubbish dumped on council land through the law of trespass were approved by cabinet on Wednesday.

Under the proposals the authority would only pursue costs where the amount is ‘above the economical debt recovery threshold’, or when it is economically viable to do so.

The move comes after Caerphilly council agreed to hit fly-tippers with the maximum £400 fine having spent more than £150,000 clearing dumped waste last year.

Speaking at cabinet, Cllr Poole said: “This is the first step in our battle against these irresponsible environmental bandits.

“They are ruining this beautiful county. We should now look at all ways to make sure that where these vandals do their dirty work, we’re after them and we’re prosecuting them.”

Councillors had expressed concerns that limiting cost recovery to incidents on council land could divert fly-tipping to areas outside their remit, such as common land.

 

Cllr Poole said the focus had to be on protecting the environment across the borough and not just on council land.

But Rob Hartshorn, head of public protection, community and leisure services, said he was unsure that fly-tippers ‘would be so sensitive to landownership’ when it came to dumping waste.

“I think the issue for us might be the definition of trespass as broad harm to the environment may not be a sufficient [case of legal action],” he added.

Councillor Barbara Jones claimed that an elderly constituent living on a lane leading over a common was the victim of repeated fly-tipping.

“If an ambulance needed to get to her it couldn’t. She’s vulnerable – I’d say that’s a harm to the authority,” said Cllr Jones.

Mr Hartshorn said: “The civil course of action is trespass, not harm to the authority. If that’s not our land, we don’t have any responsibility for it.”

Despite this Mr Hartshorn said he would seek legal advice on common land and if there was an opportunity to recover clean-up costs in such matters, then it would be explored.

Councils across Wales received 38,614 reports of fly-tipping in 2016/17, costing taxpayers more than £2.1 million to clear.