Litter & Fly Tipping

Like all villages, we suffer from inconsiderate people who throw away their Litter and who engage in disgraceful  "Fly tipping".

The fast food outlets of McDonalds (at Monkey Jump A35 roundabout) and others in the area contribute to the problem. Smokers are also big culprits thinking nothing of throwing "fag ends" and fag packets down once used. Even so called healthy people drinking water will often also throw their plastic water bottles away when empty. Then, of course, we suffer from beer cans and also spirit bottles from drinkers.

Whilst the chances of catching one of these despicable people is very low, the only way that we can fight back is the collect the litter and remove the fly tipping debris.

Fortunately, there are a number of public spirited people in the villages who volunteer to collect the litter and map the fly tipping. 

Here's some information from Dorset Council :

Fly Tipping – Reporting & Advice

The link below takes you directly to the reporting page on our Website:

https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/DWP-Report-fly-tipping-in-Dorset

If the Fly-Tipping is on either public or private land, the site will be investigated for evidence and appropriate legal action taken. However, we will only clear waste from the public highway or public land. Waste deposited on private land is the landowner’s responsibility to clear and we cannot remove this waste.

Those caught fly-tipping can be prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Every year councils spend a considerable amount of time and money removing this waste from the landscape. We will always try to remove fly-tipping as soon as possible. The site will be investigated for evidence and the appropriate legal action taken. If we can trace the persons responsible for fly-tipping we can recover our costs & potentially the land owners costs in some instances.

Simple rules for reporting fly-tipping

·   do not remove any evidence found from the fly-tipping location, for example, addressed letters – instead take photographs please

·   be as specific as possible when describing where the incident has occurred – what 3 words is particularly good

·   if you see the incident occurring do not approach the persons involved

·   if you see a person/vehicle involved in an environmental crime take as many details as you can, for example, description of the person or vehicle registration, type of waste(s) and photos, dash cam footage if safe to do so

·   you may be asked to provide a witness statement and/or attend court in subsequent legal action

Any fly tips reported that do not include evidence will go directly to our depot not to enforcement. Whilst we don’t recommend you searching the waste, cardboard boxes often have address labels and black bin bags normally have paperwork/envelopes etc. If in doubt state evidence present & we can then investigate swiftly.

Littering Report Link

https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/DWP_Report_litter_on_the_highway_or_pavement

Waste Bins : there are a number of bins (regularly emptied by Dorset Council) in both villages and these do get full quite often. 

Litter Picking : If you would like to volunteer to do this, please contact us (see foot of page) preferably by email and the parish council can arrange to provide litter picker tools, bags and hi-viz vests.

If you do undertake litter picking please :

In Abbas - avoid the A35 where no pavement exists - it is a fast moving and busy road.  

Wear a hi-viz vest or jacket with sensible clothes and stout shoes / boots.

Wear good gloves and use a litter picker tool

Walk facing the traffic and stay very alert.

Do not take children or dogs.

Report dead animals to Dorset Council (they have a team that will remove these)

Locate and map any fly tipping - do not attempt to move heavy objects etc (see below)

For your own safety, avoid challenging people who you see littering or fly tipping.

Do not work in thick fog, mist or when at dusk when the light is failing. 

Bag up the litter and place into bin if possible but otherwise by the side of the bin.

When you finish, thoroughly wash your hands at home - have a well earned cuppa !

Thank you for your efforts ! 

Fly Tipping 

This can be a serious problem with all sorts of debris and waste being dumped by people and small contractors. LA tips charge for various kinds of debris now and this factor increases the amount that is illegally fly tipped.

We have found that the most effective way to assist Dorset Council in the removal of fly tipped debris is to locate it on a map (see below). Once there is enough debris to make a collection trip viable, the parish council will email the map to Dorset Council who can hopefully get their staff to collect it all in one go.

Simple annotation and description of the debris is helpful and if you cannot scan - photograph the map carefully with a phone and email it. 

Do NOT move the debris as you could be held liable !!

(see example below)

Below is a base map for Steepleton village area :

Below is an excellent example of a completed map for Steepleton

Base map for Abbas Village area :