Police funds to help farmers cover fly-tipping clean-up cost

Fly-tipping campaigners are calling on police commissioners across the UK to follow the lead of Northamptonshire and Hertfordshire by establishing funds to help farmers pay clear-up costs when rubbish is dumped on their land.

The Fly Tipping on Private Land Funds use income from seizures under the Proceeds of Crime Act to clear and dispose of waste left on private land, as well as providing advice and help to improve security.

See also: Find all our fly-tipping coverage in one place 

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) says some landowners have been awarded as much as £1,200 from the £20,000 funds, although they can only claim for a single clearance.

CLA surveyor Alison Provis says the organisation is now lobbying other forces to establish similar schemes.

“There must be support to help the victim – the landowner – in these circumstances,” said Ms Provis, the CLA’s lead on fly-tipping.

“For our members who are targeted, it is not just a couple of big bags. We have people who are seeing this happening every two weeks and are paying £1,000 to have the rubbish removed after every incident.”

These landowners, she said, had installed fencing, CCTV and had blocked gateways, but were repeatedly targeted simply because of the location of their land.

Hazardous waste including asbestos and even dead animals had been found among the detritus.

Encouraging

Ms Provis said it was “encouraging” that police crime commissioners were recognising the scale of the problem, even though the size of the funds was not significant.

“We are grateful to have police and crime commissioners in those two counties who are sympathetic to the significant issue of fly-tipping and have ring-fenced funds for this.”

In West Northamptonshire, the scheme is funded by the Office of the Police Fire and Crime Commissioner in partnership with West and North Northamptonshire councils, with landowners able to apply for a grant of £1,500.

Helpful

A Hertfordshire farmer who has used the fly-tipping fund described it as “reassuring and extremely helpful”.

The landowner, a CLA member, says fly-tipping is a “constant menace” on the farm.

“We get people dumping rubbish in our fields on an alarmingly regular basis,” said the farmer, who asked to remain anonymous.

 “Clearing the waste can run into hundreds, and sometimes thousands of pounds. If we don’t clear it ourselves, it often attracts more tipping, and we can risk being prosecuted.”

He used the fly-tipping fund when a large number of used fridges and cookers were tipped on a headland and in a ditch.

“There was also significant crop damage where the vehicles flattened the wheat to gain access,” he said. “While it doesn’t always cover the full costs,  it is reassuring and extremely helpful to know that we are not alone in having to pick up the bill for this disgraceful crime that blights our countryside.”