Campaign to force fly tippers to clean up
The Scottish Conservatives have launched a new campaign to tackle fly-tipping.
Last year, Police Scotland recorded just 61 fly-tipping offences even though environmental bodies suggesting the true total is more than 60,000.
The Scottish Conservative campaign will tackle the scourge of fly-tipping by strengthening Scottish legislation and increasing the use of Community Payback Orders for those who fail to pay fines.
Currently anyone convicted of fly-tipping would face a fine of up to £40,000. If the fine is not paid, the Scottish Conservatives would encourage the use of a Community Payback Order which would include an unpaid work element of clearing up a fly tip - potentially the mess they themselves had created.
The Scottish Conservatives will give Scottish local authorities the same powers as their counterparts in England and Wales which would allow them to recover fly tip clean-up costs and allow vehicles used to dump waste to be seized.
The campaign follows the release of information obtained by the Scottish Conservatives which showed that Perth and Kinross Council had to deal with a total of 1,081 fly-tipping incidents last year – compared to 499 in 2014.
The statistics were provided through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Commenting, Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Mid Scotland and Fife region, said: “Fly-tipping is a scourge on our landscape and a hazard for humans and wildlife alike.
“This is an escalating problem and it has been a real issue in Strathearn, with old tyres and white goods found in laybys across the area. I have received an increased number of complaints from residents about fly-tipping.
“Some laybys are stuffed full of items that have been left as a result of fly-tipping.”
She continued: “The Scottish Conservative campaign will give local authorities the powers to recover clean-up costs and provide more people to pick up what has been left behind.
“The Scottish Conservatives would empower local authorities to take on this challenge.”
And Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative MSP for the Mid Scotland and Fife region, added: “On a recent Litter Pick in Stanley we found a pile of used car parts which appear to have been fly-tipped, perhaps from a commercial garage?
“This highlights a significant problem with fly-tipping across the country.”