“Maximum penalty” urged for littering and fly-tipping

Oldham Council’s Liberal Democrat Opposition Group have urged the ruling Labour Party to enforce “the maximum penalty” for littering and fly-tipping offences across the Borough.  Liberal Democrat Leader, councillor Howard Sykes MBE said that council bosses “must prove to people that they are serious about handling the basics.” 

Sykes’s comments come after the government announced new maximum fines of £1,000 for fly-tipping (up from £400 previously), as well as new, steeper fines for graffiti and other environmental crimes. 

Councillor Sykes said, “By the Council’s own estimate, it costs £2,500 per day to tackle fly-tipping.  People who blight our streets and our green spaces with dumped rubbish should pay the maximum penalty.  The Council must make full use of these new powers and crack down on offenders.”

Despite so-called high-profile marketing campaigns like ‘Don’t Trash Oldham’, Oldham Council has drawn criticism under successive Council Leaders in recent years for spiralling rates of fly-tipping and environmental crime. 

Councillor Sykes said, “Fly-tipping offences have spiralled out of control in Oldham.  We are seeing far sharper increases when compared with our neighbours.  Yet despite this, Oldham’s Labour leadership is issuing fewer fines than they managed during the covid years.  This is clearly not good enough.  The Council must prove to people that they are serious about handling the basics.”