Fly-tipping cases rise in Norwich despite prevention campaign

Fly-tipped rubbish dumped in alleyways and streets in Norwich has increased

Data on fly-tipping shows about half of the offences in Norfolk were committed in Norwich, despite a city council campaign to stamp it out.

Government figures revealed 5,297 fly-tipping incidents in Norwich in 2022-23, compared to 4,805 the previous year.

Across Norfolk there were 11,058 cases of waste being dumped illegally, compared to 10,761 in 2021-22.

The city council said it was "committed to tackling environmental crime".

Its Love Norwich campaign, launched in 2022, was given an extra £100,000 in February to try and stop environmental crime.

The types of litter dumped tended to reflect items unable to be taken away by refuse collectors, said residents

Liam Dennis lives on the Heartsease estate and runs a community Facebook page that regularly has comments about fly-tipping.

He said the majority of litter, which "included tins of paint and bits of furniture", could be found "in nooks and crannies" and under hedges.

"Items that the council may not want to take away in your bin, or arguably your bin's too full, and you've just found a place and dumped bin bags full of clothes and general rubbish," he said.

Mr Dennis said he and other residents began organising regular litter picks since last October.

"We've identified regular areas for fly-tipping, which we then send the information to the council to help remove the rubbish," he said.

He believed that more public education was required.

"Keep Britain Tidy is an old slogan that I grew up with. That's lost in the modern day," he added.

Green councillor Alex Catt has called for Norwich City Council to explain why it is not doing more to combat fly-tipping

Green Party councillor Alex Catt has called for the council to do more.

"It's become so ingrained - people are so used to it [fly-tipping] not being dealt with, they're in the habit of doing it," he said.

"Our main concern is where the £100,000 Love Norwich campaign money has gone.

"We've not seen any increase in enforcement action."

Norwich City Council said in a statement that the fly-tipping increase last year was "mainly due to a three-month peak observed in summer 2022".

"Enforcement has also increased for the period 2023-2024 to date, with five fixed penalty notices issued."

It added that 95% of fly-tipping cases reported via its website were cleared within 24 hours.

Norwich was 28th worst in the country for fly-tipping by population out of 309 local authority areas, with 36.7 recorded incidents per 1,000 people.

A total of 124 fixed penalty notices were issued across the whole of Norfolk in 2022-23 - including just one in Norwich.