Council 'out-of-touch for blocking fly-tip fine rise motion'

Watford Borough Council currently operates a £600 fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping but the Government increased the maximum councils are allowed to charge from £1,000 to £5,000 in September.

The town’s Labour Party therefore put forward a motion calling for a review “with the aim of introducing fines of up to £5,000 for the most serious and persistent fly-tipping offences” at Tuesday’s council meeting (October 20).

Their ‘Clean Streets Guarantee’ motion also sought to expand CCTV and enforcement measures.

All four Labour councillors voted for the motion but the rest – all Liberal Democrats – voted against or abstained.

Cllr Asif Khan clearing rubbish in Watford (Image: Cllr Asif Khan)

Councillor Asif Khan, who proposed the motion, said the decision showed “a complacent and increasingly out-of-touch attitude towards the everyday concerns of Watford residents”.

"Speak to residents across Watford and they will tell you about rubbish dumped in alleyways, mattresses abandoned on pavements and the same fly-tipping hotspots appearing again and again,” he added.

"Residents are frustrated. They want action, not excuses.

"Yet when Labour brought forward practical proposals to tackle these problems, the Liberal Democrats voted them down.

"What exactly are they afraid of? Tougher fines for those who illegally dump rubbish? Catching offenders using CCTV? Or giving residents the right to see how well their council is performing?”

Cllr Asif Khan stood by fly-tipped rubbish in Watford (Image: Cllr Asif Khan)

At the meeting, Liberal Democrats accused Labour of “grandstanding” and said they were already reviewing their fines.

Councillor Tim Williams, who oversees community services, said Watford takes fly-tipping “very seriously”.

“Our enforcement teams work hard to identify and catch fly-tippers, and as a result, we have issued more fines than any other council in Hertfordshire,” he said. “Since the law changed last month to allow us to increase the maximum fine, council officers have been working on a review of fines.”

He said 99 per cent of reported fly-tips are removed within 24 hours and recent campaigns have reduced dumping.

Cllr Williams added: “Liberal Democrat councillors voted against this motion because much of what Labour presented as a new ‘Clean Streets Guarantee’ is just a new name for what the council already does, and so was a waste of council time.

“Labour submitted this motion simply to score political points, rather than to work constructively to tackle fly-tipping.”