DROITWICH and Evesham Labour Party are calling on Wychavon District Council to use its newly-given powers to clamp down on the scourge of increasing waste crime.
The group’s pleas come as the Government has published an ambitious crackdown on fly-tipping – its Waste Crime Action Plan.
The plan includes stronger enforcement powers for the Environment Agency (EA) tougher penalties for dumpers and increased funding to tackle waste crime.
Those found guilty could be made to carry out unpaid clean-up work and repay the costs of clearing illegally dumped waste.
Droitwich and Evesham Labour Party said Freedom of Information requests to Wychavon revealed reports of of fly-tipping on public land rose to more than 1,300 incidents in 2024 and showed no signs of slowing.
It added there were increased reports of fly-tipping on private land too, but despite often prompt removal of waste, there were no prosecutions by the council, and the number of fines issued was in small single figures.
The group said the new Waste Crime Action Plan needed to bring greater partnership working between Government, the EA and local authorities to tackle the issue more vigorously and called on the district council to put more resources into issuing fines and convicting culprits.
New police-like powers and more funds for EA staff have been provided for earlier intervention and greater disruption to the finances of criminal gangs.
There are also plans for local councils to offer Landfill Tax rebates to disincentivise fly-tipping and to publicly name and shame illegal waste operators.
Labour Party members recently contributed to the highly successful Big Evesham Spring Clean organised by Anti-Litter Evesham as part of the national Keep Britain Tidy campaign.
“Such energetic voluntary action again contrasts with the inaction of many local councils who fail to issue fixed penalty notices or fines despite the increasingly widespread blight of our streets and countryside by those who drop litter,” a spokeperson said.
It added that nationally, more than 70 councils failed to issue a single fine for littering last year, while over three-quarters of fines issued were by Labour-controlled councils.
“Clean Up Britain and local campaigners are rightly urging the Government to double the maximum fine to £1,000, but this will only have an impact if councils like Wychavon use the powers they already have more aggressively,” the group added.
Active anti-litter campaigner Coun Mary Tasker (Evesham North) said: “Government action on both fly-tipping and littering more generally is very welcome, but success will only come from local action and a concerted campaign of education, combined with rigorous enforcement of new and existing powers.”
A spokesperson for the council said: “We assess all reports of fly-tipping and always investigate where there is a realistic chance of finding evidence which may lead to a prosecution or enforcement action.
“We use all enforcement tools available to us and a range of investigative measures, including CCTV. In terms of littering, we follow the national litter strategy, which includes a focus on education and infrastructure to change behaviour as much as it does enforcement.
They said the council has more than 1,000 litter and dog waste bins across Wychavon, 2,000 people signed up for its Adopt a Street volunteer litter picking scheme, and had funded anti-litter education sessions for more than 19,000 school children.”
