We have all seen these posters that started to appear around Kilburn in December 2020.
Yet there does not seem to have been any improvement in the cleanliness of our streets. It seems that despite the threat of a fine on the posters, a large number of residents and businesses still dispose of their waste illegally on our pavement.
We have reported hundreds of fly tipping incidents, supplied evidence of who the fly tipper is, in the form of an address on a box or even videos of businesses caught in the act of dumping their waste on the pavement in black bags.
So why has the situation not improved?
The answer is simple and revealed in a recent Freedom of Information request we made. An “on the spot fine” is what is called an FPN for fly tipping.
Camden Council once again issued 0 (ZERO) FPN to private households for flytipping in the whole of Camden in 2021 and 2020 and just one in the first 3 months of 2022.
The number of businesses fines for fly tipping is also strikingly low, when one sees the level of business fly tipping on a daily basis. See table below
Camden is the most fly tipped Borough in the Country, yet enforcement doesn’t seem to be a priority, except when a local election is coming where a seat will be highly contested on the basis of dirty streets. Look at the sudden enthusiasm in the West Hampstead ward where more than half of all Camden FPN’s were issued in February and March 2022.
Goverment’s statistics show that 65% of fly tipped waste is Household waste, ie waste from private households. Thus Camden’s policy of not fining private households for fly-tipping is clearly out of step with the reality on our streets. Some people will continue to dump despite education, if threats of fines are not implemented and our streets will continue to be covered in rubbish.
See here the details of fly tips by local authority. Camden tops the UK chart in 2020/2021 with 36696 reported fly tipping incidents (131.3 incidents per 1000 residents), closely followed in second position by Brent with 33467 incidents.
So yes, our streets are dirty, our pavements are congested with fly-tipped waste, but Camden Council doesn’t seem to be doing much, despite the posters and publicity, to reduce the issue. There does not seem to be any consequence for not disposing of one’s waste legally and responsibly. While education is defintely part of the solution to the problem, fines should also be part of the solution for repeat offenders, where education does not have the desired outcome.
The Council relies on the public to report fly tipping via an app for clearance. If it is not reported it is not cleared! So get on your phone and download the “Love Clean streets” App as you cannot count on proactive enforcement by the Council.