The thoughtless few

[Psycolist]

Had a great ride today. When I started, the sun was warm on my back and my I Pod had a Steppenwolf/Led Zep mix for the 5 or so miles on busy urban roads and as I reached the start of my intended rural loop, there was little wind, the birds were singing, hardly a cloud in the sky nor car in sight. Off went the music, a quick drink and away I went. As the miles ticked by I felt like I may be the only person left in the world at times, 20 minutes between seeing another soul, and as I passed the gently spinning wind turbines, all with the world was great. Then as I passed through a farmyard that straddled the lane, the sun went from behind a cloud, as I turned a bend in the road, there sat a burnt out car, nose first in the roadside ditch, but at least the car was stopping the flow of fast food cartons and drink tins from bobbing thier way along the ditch towards the farm. About 50 meters further on there was a pile of hardcore dumped in the entrance to one of the fields, along with what appeared to be the remnants of several conifers that had been cut down and dumped beside the hardcore, along with several tyres.
Who are these people that use our countryside like a tip for all thier unwanted rubbish. Why, if they take the trouble to go out into the countryside, cant they go to the proper place and dispose of the rubbish properly. My mood was broken. The whole day had now been marred by the memory of the thoughtlesness of these events. All I could do on the rest of my ride was look out for further incidents of the same type of selfish and inexcusable behaviour.
Make them clear it up, send them to do community service, fine them, name and shame them. But first y'godda find them. Something that there seems to be neither the rescources, nor the will to do.
I dont know what the answer is, but something needs to be done to stop these selfish acts and bring the guilty to justice.
Sorry.......rant over.

 

[betty swollocks]

You're quite right of course - a little rant, but an entirely justified one.
No need to apologise.
I entirely share your outrage.

 

[Kies]

I know someone who in a moment of stupudity did fly tip ..... He was reported .... First time,doesn't know why he did it,but admitted to the judge it was his first and only time,and apolgised to the court .... They gave him a hefty £2000 fine and a criminal record.
He to this day says he deserved it.
The courts come down hard on this illegal activity ..... But you got to catch these people first

 

[ianrauk]

It a horrible anti-social practice that is all far too prevalent these days.
I see it a lot in the country lanes near where I live. TV's, Fridges, Mattresses and tons of rubble usually.

 

[Biker Joe]

Don't be sorry. That rant was justified. Fly tipping is a curse.
I think the incidents often occur in the middle of the night and very early hours of the morning.
There was a place in our village where it often occurred until a nearby house owner installed a camera overlooking the track. Several guilty parties were caught on camera and dealt with. I think the word got around and it doesn't happen any more.
Unfortunately this method is not a very feasible option out in the countryside and I can't think of an answer.
I cycle the country lanes of NW Essex/Hertfordshire border and I'm pleased to say such fly tipping incidents are very few and far between.
I can enjoy the countryside without being distracted by unsightly rubbish piles.
Some areas seem to be affected more than others.
As far as I am aware, there is a countryside police patrol in the area covering the farming community where I ride.. Perhaps this is a deterrent.
I suppose you could report the incidents you see to the appropriate authorities but I don't know if that would help. I don't think local authorities have the resources or the will to do anything about it unless the perpetrators are caught in the act.
A curse on the fly tippers.

 

[Sandra6]

I don't get it.
Why go to all that effort of hauling a sofa/fridge/mattress/whatever else out to the middle of nowhere to dump, when there is a perfectly good -and free - recycling centre/tip not far away at all.

 

[bianchi1]

I don't get it.
Why go to all that effort of hauling a sofa/fridge/mattress/whatever else out to the middle of nowhere to dump, when there is a perfectly good -and free - recycling centre/tip not far away at all.

Tips and recycling centres are not for trade waste, therefore if you have a truck or a van you need to get permits from the local council. I drive a van (not for work but for lugging around bikes) and I have to use these permits even when it's for just my household/ garden waste.

I'm not excusing fly tipping tho, there is a regular drop off by me. You would have thought someone would be able to identify the culprits.

 

[nickyboy]

I'm more interested in the dumping of hardcore. I thought the internet had put paid to jazz mags, how wrong I was

 

[Biker Joe]

I don't get it.
Why go to all that effort of hauling a sofa/fridge/mattress/whatever else out to the middle of nowhere to dump, when there is a perfectly good -and free - recycling centre/tip not far away at all.

I think it's because, at least in our town, that vehicles such as pick up trucks or larger are not allowed inside civic waste centres. Using official, large waste sites probably incurs a fee. However, that's only an assumption on my part. I don't really know for sure.

Edit. bianchi1 already covered this as I was writing. Sorry.

 

[Mugshot]

bianchi1 is spot on. Fly tipping is an anti social selfish habit, but, whilst it doesn't excuse it, I can understand why people do it. My work van is sign written and used for deliveries, if I decide to use it to take my own household refuse to the tip I stand a resonable chance of one of the workers not only trying to charge me for it but also threatening to report me for not having a waste carrying licence. So the easy way around it for the less socially concerned is to dump it in a hedge.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

I don't get it.
Why go to all that effort of hauling a sofa/fridge/mattress/whatever else out to the middle of nowhere to dump, when there is a perfectly good -and free - recycling centre/tip not far away at all.

Because if it's " trade" or in a van then it's chargeable. The " free" service is only for domestic waste.

 

[Radchenister]

bianchi1 is spot on. Fly tipping is an anti social selfish habit, but, whilst it doesn't excuse it, I can understand why people do it. My work van is sign written and used for deliveries, if I decide to use it to take my own household refuse to the tip I stand a reasonable chance of one of the workers not only trying to charge me for it but also threatening to report me for not having a waste carrying licence. So the easy way around it for the less socially concerned is to dump it in a hedge.

Nope ... still don't get it, most clients of these folk wouldn't pick them if they knew this was going to happen, or for that matter, even consider using them in the first place.

I have called fly tipping into the LA previously and it has been cleared away (in both Gloucester and Cardiff), even helped move a load of tires dumped at the local river once ... take some action, you might be surprised that someone does something about it. The tire incident was traced to a commercial garage some 15 miles away in town.

 

[ColinJ]

It must be cheaper for councils to process the waste free than to have to send someone out to retrieve it and then process it? I think that putting up a cost barrier to proper waste disposal is asking for trouble and imposes another expense on small businesses. Let them use the waste disposal sites free and the problem would largely go away.

 

[Ningishzidda]

The piles of dumped hardcore, large tree trunks an large truck tyres have been placed in open field gateways to deter tinkers and travellers accessing the field to set up camp.
Once travelling people have got onto a farmer's field, it is at least a week before the police will do anything, if anything at all.
Same thing happens in Warwickshire.
At first appearance to the travellers, it looks like some other travellers have already stayed and been moved-on recently. So they decide not to stop there.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

It must be cheaper for councils to process the waste free than to have to send someone out to retrieve it and then process it? I think that putting up a cost barrier to proper waste disposal is asking for trouble and imposes another expense on small businesses. Let them use the waste disposal sites free and the problem would largely go away.

Ahh you would think so, but you don't understand the full compexity ... It's the perrenial problem of segregeted budgets

The waste sites aren't owned by the councils, they are owned and run by private companies that then charge the councils £x per tonne for waste, where X varies depending on whether i'ts trade or houshold waste.

It's in the company's interest to turn away waste, that they can then charge, through a different revenue stream, at trade rates, and at higher rates than they charge the councils

If that is then dumped, the company gets paid anyway, by the council.