WARWICK District Council is teaming up with a neighbouring council to tackle fly-tipping.
Council chiefs in the district have agreed a proposal for a shared service with Rugby Borough Council (RBC) which will see enforcement against businesses and residents who fly-tip or accumulate rubbish in Warwick district.
The move follows criticism the district council was allowing fly-tippers to get away it.
Warwick district has the highest level of fly-tipping incidents in the county, with more than 1,000 incidents reported per year, compared to less than 300 in Stratford.
But concern was voiced earlier this year that despite the council having potential evidence about suspected fly-tippers – including names within dumped rubbish and CCTV images – it had not taken any action to prosecute.
This new joined-up approach will see Rugby’s existing enforcement team investigate issues on behalf of Warwick and then recommend enforcement action needed.
Warwick will collect evidence and pass it on to colleagues in Rugby to investigate and produce prosecution case files – at a cost of £75 per hour. This was deemed a better option than Warwick having its own in-house investigation team.
District neighbourhood services spokeswoman Coun Moira-Ann Grainger said: “I very much welcome this commitment to a shared enforcement partnership with Rugby Borough Council.
“It costs a considerable amount of money per year to deal with the fly-tipping in Warwick district and this new approach is in response to our residents who want the council to deal with fly-tipping and littering by setting up our own enforcement team.
“This joint approach means we can introduce an enforcement policy much sooner and more cost effectively than progressing it on our own. It will result in the Council being better equipped to reduce persistent waste problems in the district.”
The new joint approach will be trialled for 18 months.
