A CROFT farmer is calling on Warrington Borough Council to do more to clamp down on illegal fly-tipping.
The call comes after a local farmer Philip Sharpe met with the Prospective Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire John Dwyer recently to explain how fly-tipping is costing farmers huge amounts of money and risking contaminating farmland in Croft.
According to figures released by DEFRA nearly 3,000 people were prosecuted nationally for fly-tipping in 2019/20.
The National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group has estimated that fly-tipping costs between 86m-£186 million every year to investigate and clear up. The bill is paid by landowners like Mr Sharpe and local Councils.
Mr Sharpe who is also standing as a Conservative candidate for Croft Parish Council said: “My land has been plagued by illegal fly-tipping. The failure to prosecute the perpetrators means that fly-tippers are getting away with it. The Dumpers block field gateways, it’s full of contaminated waste, it’s an environmental health issue and generally litters our countryside with eyesore dumps of rubbish which quite simply shouldn’t be there. I question what my local Council are doing about this and I can’t understand why more isn’t being done to support the rural communities with this problem”.
Mr Dwyer said: “There can be no doubt that fly-tipping is an absolutely disgraceful crime which needs to be stamped out. It causes a blight on our landscape and creates a financial and physical burden on our landowners. If I am successful on 6th May, in my bid to become the next PCC for Cheshire, then I want to work with our local authorities and the environmental health agencies to create a joint enterprise to deal with the offenders. I think it is important that they feel the full weight of the law and realise that we will not tolerate this type of behaviour.
Local Parish Cllr Val Allen MBE added: “As a Conservative group, we are united that more needs to be done to stop fly-tipping, not just in the countryside but across our town. Farmers like Philip should not have to clear someone else’s waste and worry about whether the land has been contaminated.”
