Tougher enforcement on flytipping and littering in Reading is due to begin this month as part of a push to crack down on the behaviour.
Reading Borough Council is seeking to boost penalties for flytipping and littering by using an external provider.
This involves a new arrangement for enforcement that comes at no extra charge to the council through the partnership.
A report on this new system was presented to the council’s housing, neighbourhoods and leisure committee.
Chris Wheeler, the assistant director of environmental & commercial services, said: “It’s intended to address the key concerns of residents around litter and flytipping and other related environmental crime.
“This type of approach is new to Reading, and we wanted to be transparent about the benefits of the approach, the risks and the planned controls to manage some of those risks.
“In taking this approach, it will result in increased activity, and more actions against those found to be littering and flytipping.”
Karen Rowland (Labour, Abbey), lead councillor for environmental services, explained that the arrangement is set on tackling the commonly raised problem in a cost-effective way.
She said: “It’s answering residents’ desire to see a cleaner landscape, where there are concerns about litter and flytipping.
“That is something that our residents continually tell us needs to be better addressed.
“I think we all realise, having come through a very tough budget season, we didn’t have a whole lot of change hanging around in our pockets to make something really happen.
“Enforcement is not something to be feared, unless you are someone who needs to be enforced against.”
Cllr Rowland also said the council is gearing up to implement the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms that are ‘coming down the track’, with the new arrangement allowing the council’s recycling and environmental enforcement team of four to five officers to focus on the reforms.
Cllr Sarah Hacker (Independent, Battle) stated that the bottle banks at Kensington Park is a flytipping hotspot that needs addressing.
She said: “It’s a constant source of flytipping and angst. So I’m quite pleased to see this.”
Cllr Hacker then asked how patrols by the external team will function, and whether they will use CCTV and the Love Clean Reading app to build intelligence.
Mr Wheeler replied that the enforcement team will work alongside the current team to build knowledge of hotspot areas.
He said: “In terms of CCTV, yes it is useful on some occasions, but actually unless there is an identifiable element that is not a silver bullet to it, because people know they are going to be flytipping, so they will disguise themselves and their vehicle, and that means there isn’t any evidence that we could use.
“The much more reliable evidence is when we investigate fly-tips and find items that link back to the person.”
Mr Wheeler added that enforcers will wear body cams.
Cllr Sarah Magon (Green, Park) stated littering and rubbish dumping is a constant problem in her area of East Reading as well.
She said: “We have a huge amount of case work in Park ward regarding flytipping and no evident enforcement, so I think this is really welcome if it can go well, particularly in Wokingham Road with the shops and bins, we’ve had huge issues.”
The new enforcement arrangement began this month. However, that is subject to a streamlined acquisition process.
If a full tendering process is required, the service is due to be implemented this autumn, according to Mr Wheeler’s report.
