AN environmental law expert has maintained that it is difficult but not impossible to prosecute people for fly-tipping.
David Armstrong, a practicing Derby barrister and a consultant for councils on environmental crime, was called in to give a talk on the issue by Derby City Council.
About 60 members of the public, council staff and councillors went to the event, which was one of the things the council had promised to do to tackle fly-tipping.
The crime is blighting Normanton and Arboretum wards in particular, with anything from meat to furniture being dumped in the streets on a regular basis.
The Derby Telegraph, Normanton Empowerment Team, and the council are running a petition calling for a change in law to make it easier for the authority to prosecute for fly-tipping.
This followed the authority saying the same level of proof was required as it is for murder. It has not made a prosecution in the past five years.
In an interview after the event, Mr Armstrong, said "it was absolutely possible" for the authority to prosecute for fly-tipping – but there were difficulties.
He gave the example of finding an addressed letter in a bag of fly-tipped rubbish, pointing out that it could have been thrown away by someone visiting the house of origin.
Mr Armstrong said that, in the face of cuts to councils' funding from Government, the best option was for authorities to work with communities to track down fly-tippers through things like its Streetpride Champions scheme.
People who sign up take responsibility in their streets for reporting fly-tipping and answering queries about rubbish from residents.
He said that, to successfully prosecute for fly-tipping, people needed to ensure they make copious notes of what they saw.
This would enable the council to know if it could prosecute or not.
Notes should include:
An exact idea of how long they have watched the incident.
Distance from the incident based on landmarks.
An idea of any visibility problems, such as whether it was raining and what other obstructions to the view there may have been.
Do they know who the person was?
A description of the person, including distinguishing features such as tattoos or scars.
How long was it between the incident and the notes being made?
Dawn Gee, from Normanton Empowerment Team, which is battling for more to be done about the fly-tipping in the area, said the event was "useful".
She said it was interesting Mr Anderson had said enforcement is an important part of tackling fly-tipping.
Mrs Gee said: "We've done the engagement, we've tried the education but we are seeing the same families fly-tipping again and again."
Councillor Asaf Afzal, cabinet member responsible for tackling fly-tipping, said: "It is a challenge to address environmental crime but the message remains that we need to all work together for the benefit of our neighbourhoods and city."
