The Vice Chairman introduced the report as it had been placed on the work plan at his request, and commented that the figures did not fit the public perception of what was actually happening. 

Julian Cook, District Manager for Kent County Council (KCC) Highways Sevenoaks Area was introduced to the Committee.  He advised that he dealt with reactive maintenance of the highways which would include  commercial fly tipping on the highway.  The Committee was advised that the District Council was responsible for removing fly tipped  household waste and KCC was responsible for removing fly tipped commercial waste, on the highway.  There were grey areas but the authorities would liaise.  Neither were responsible for removing fly tipped waste  on private land.  One of the problems was the District’s proximity to London, and some London Boroughs had put up the price of skip hire.  There had also been an increase in the fly tipping of waste containing  asbestos which took longer to remove as it required  specialist contractors.  They worked closely with the ‘Clean Kent Team’ and recently using covert cameras had caught one offender from the Lewisham area who was responsible for at least eighteen offences. 

It was noted that the figures presented were of all fly tipping reports but the removals recorded were only those the District Council were responsible for removing that could be found.

Action 1:  For future reports an extra column to be included to show the number of reported incidents that were on private land.

In response to questions the District Manager Sevenoaks (KHS), advised that the strategy for dissuading against fly tipping was working closely with the District Council and the Clean Kent campaign (www.cleankent.co.uk) which encouraged a vigilant public to report fly tipping which would hopefully lead to more prosecutions.  The use of Smart Water, cameras and sorting through rubbish all aided evidence collection.  The Head of Environmental and Operational Services reported that robust evidence was often difficult to find, these were very often professional criminals and vehicles used were not always registered with the DVLA. Many members of the public were not aware that that they were under a duty of care and if employing anyone to take waste  away from their home should check they had a waste carrier registration number.  He further advised that it now cost £90-100 per tonne to legitimately dispose of waste.  KCC had just carried out a full review of recycling centres and would be introducing some relaxations such as height restrictions whilst endeavouring to discourage trade using domestic sites.

Action 2:  The Head of Environmental and Operational Services to liaise with KCC and a report to come back for consideration in May 2013 on the impact of the KCC review of household recycling centres.

A Local Parish Councillor was allowed to address the Committee and reiterated that perception certainly did not marry with all the work that was obviously undertaken and was pleased with the information provided.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.