NEW legislation which has resulted in £1,000 fines being given to fly-tippers caught blighting the borough is not having the desired impact in Barnsley’s worst-hit area, it has been claimed.
Barnsley Council struck a ‘significant milestone’ last week when they issued the first four-figure sum to a tipper who dumped waste on Ben Bank Road, Dodworth.
The local authority’s litter and environmental crime plan, which was approved earlier this year, increased the maximum penalty for fly-tippers from £400 to £1,000 in an effort to deter offenders.
However, Coun Steve Bullcock, who represents the Kingstone ward, warned the increase hasn’t had the impact he had hoped for.
“It was announced with great fanfare by Barnsley Council that the first £1,000 penalty for fly-tipping and vehicle crushing had occurred,” he told the Chronicle.
“Let’s hope that this is a deterrent to others - an increase in penalties is long overdue and a good positive step forward, welcomed by the majority of residents.
“The council’s own figures show taxpayers spent £265,000 in the last financial year clearing reported fly-tipped waste.
“However since the introduction of the new increased penalties, as a resident of Kingstone I am personally not witnessing a reduction in fly-tipping in the area.
“I would suggest the opposite is happening.
“Fly-tipping is still happening at a worrying rate, indeed the incidents in Kingstone represent around 30 per cent of the whole Barnsley-wide problem.
“The problem is not going away - education is not happening, successful investigation is not happening and prosecution is not happening.
“One thing is happening: fly-tipping is on the increase in Kingstone, the costs are increasing and vermin is bigger and healthier.
“The community and the council need to join together and fight this blight on our communities.”
Kingstone’s figures - which topped 1,058 in 2023/24 - dwarf those of other wards in the borough, with only Central and Dearne North posting more than 500 incidents in the financial year.
So far in the 2024/25 financial year, the trend is continuing with Kingstone accounting for 236 tips in April and May alone, much higher than even its own figures for the same time last year when 105 occurred.
“Greater emphasis and strategic efforts should be centred on Kingstone and its neighbouring wards,” Coun Bullcock added.
“If we can drive the numbers down it will improve the Barnsley picture massively and our town will become so much cleaner - sometimes we have to speculate to accumulate so the time now is for action, not just increasing financial penalties for offenders who may or may not be identified.”
Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) revealed there were 4,404 fly-tipping incidents in Barnsley in the year to March 2023 - a slight decrease from 4,549 in 2021/22.
In Barnsley, most of the fly-tipped waste was discovered on council land, accounting for 34 per cent of recorded incidents, followed by 29 per cent in alleyways.
The largest proportion of discarded waste was household waste, making up 57 per cent of all incidents.
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, said: “It is unacceptable that individuals take it upon themselves to blight our local areas with fly-tipping.
“The increase in the maximum penalty for fly-tipping and other environmental offences allows us to take stronger action against offenders.
“I encourage members of the public to report any instances of fly-tipping so we can continue to target and punish those who commit these crimes in our borough.”
