Call for tougher fly-tipping measures in Coventry
Coventry has seen an increase in fly-tipping over the past 12 months
There's a call for tougher action on fly tipping in Coventry.
Coventry city councillors have warned that extra cameras and a ‘wall of shame’ may not be enough to curb rising fly-tipping.
Figures released as part of the council’s One Plan annual report showed an increase over the past 12 months but much of this has been put down to improvements in enforcements and prosecutions.
In the report, director of planning and performance Clare Boden-Hatton said: “Following a 13 per cent reduction in reported incidents of fly-tipping in 2023-24, last year saw an increase from 5,929 to 6,428 in 2024-25.
"It is positive that the number of fly-tipping referrals has gone up as we want people to report incidents so we can investigate and where possible take enforcement action.
“It is also therefore positive that the number of enforcement actions has also increased and exceeded the number of referrals received.
"We are determined to reduce fly-tipping through a combination of education and enforcement, focussing our efforts on the streets that are causing the most issues.
“This year the team carried out 6,680 enforcement actions, these include warnings – verbal and written, proactive inspections of businesses, service of notices and fixed penalties, and taking cases to court.
"We have an active enforcement presence, deploying several CCTV cameras to locations identified as hot spots for fly-tipping and related offences.
"These cameras assist in supporting our investigations and have led to positive outcomes in identifying those responsible.”
She added that the council had increased the fines for environmental offences alongside a communications campaign asking residents to report anonymously who was committing these crimes. Six additional cameras are also being installed in problem areas.
But Cllr Gary Ridley wondered if more needed to be done. He said: “We sit and talk about fly-tipping as though it is some anti-social behaviour problem but there is increasing evidence that this is coming from serious organised gangs making large amounts of money out of it.
"It is great to see the actions we are taking with the wall of shame and extra cameras but are we at the point now where we need a much more robust multi-agency response?”
Cllr Christine Thomas added: “I am not surprised that prosecutions have gone up because the public are now working much closer with us, reporting more. The only concern I have is in Villiers Street in Upper Stoke.
"No sooner do we clear it that it gets filled up again and we have got cameras up there but they don’t seem to be working. It is a regular feature on the wall of shame.
“A lot of the time it is mattresses, bedding and whole house clearances. People must know who they are but the public are often afraid to report for fear of recrimination. Have we pushed enough that they can report anonymously?”