Fly-tipping named as 'serious and organised crime issue' blighting Calderdale
Fly-tipping is one of the main serious and organised crime issues Calderdale is facing, senior councillors say.
The cabinet were debating savings needing to be made from the borough’s household waste and recycling centres when the issue of fly-tipping arose.
As reported by the Courier, councillors have voted to close each of the borough’s tips for two days during the week, although not all on the same days and they will all be open at weekends.
The decision reprieved Elland tip from full closure.
Coun Sarah Courtney (Lab, Calder) told cabinet colleagues it was also a reminder that fly-tipping was illegal.
“There is no cause or justification for it in terms of when recycling centres are open or not,” she said.
Leader of Calderdale Council, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said it was a mystery to her why people would dump rubbish when they could take it to the council’s tips.
She said she thought a lot of people believed fly-tipping was a victimless crime but it was not.
Clearing the rubbish and disposing of it cost every resident – at landfill, the council has to pay £130 a tonne to dispose of it.
Cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Coun Danielle Durrans (Lab, Ovenden) said: “It’s one of our main serious and organised crime issues at the moment – it’s not somebody who turns up to the waste and recycling site and finds it might be closed or a long queue.”
In December, councillors heard fly-tipping Calderdale rose 39 per cent in a three-month period during 2024, when compared to the previous year’s figures.