Despite the welcomed investment in CCTV cameras specifically for fly tipping offences these measures are simply not enough to address the rampant fly tipping across Bedford Borough

The current Mayor would have you think he is playing hardball with fly tippers and has really cracked down on this criminal offence in Bedford Borough. Yet the stats reveal the opposite, they tell a story of beautiful town and countryside blighted by constant fly tipping.  In fact, Since 2016/17 fly tipping incidents have actually increased with almost a whopping 1000 more incidents in 2020/21.

And how does our current Liberal Democrat Mayor play hardball with these criminals? With only 1 fine issued in 2020/21 which totalled £200. When you factor in that is cost a little over £18,000 to clear up the rubbish left by fly tippers it appears our enforcement is a little soft.

The Mayor has been quick to try and cover up this dismal record by sounding his own horn and gearing up his PR machine to puff up his spending on CCTV cameras. But, to date, his cameras have produced a paltry 10 penalty notices, to put this into perspective Bedford Borough had over 3000 fly tipping incidents in 2020/21. 10 penalty notices totals a laughable 1.3% of the incidents… shall we assume the other 99.67% got away scot free? Judging from the single £200 fine they might as well have.

Although, his investment in cameras are welcome, it is too little and too late and demonstrates a lack of effective strategy in addressing fly-tipping issue in Bedford.

There is no excuse for fly tipping, this is an unacceptable practice that puts people's lives in danger and poses a risk to the council staff or farmers who have to clear it up.  There is also no excuse for the current Mayor’s failure given that our neighbours in Central Bedfordshire have seen fly tipping incidents reduce significantly.

In 2020/21 Bedford Borough had 2393 (357%) more incidents than Central Bedfordshire, perhaps the Conservative Mayoral Candidate (Tom Wootton) is right in saying we should be speaking to other local authorities to see how they manage this, and what waste disposal service they offer residents and local businesses to prevent fly tipping issues.

There are always opportunities for improvements to our existing services but not if we stick with the status quo.