Liverpool City Council has decided to adopt a rather eye-catching approach in its continuing campaign against fly-tippers – branding dumped waste as ‘crime scenes’.
The council has identified the top 10 fly-tip hot spots in the city – and instead of collecting and disposing of the illegally dumped items – it has decided to brand each waste case, as an environmental crime scene.
Dressed in crime scene tape, the highly visual approach is being used to highlight the removal cost and to remind residents they are breaking the law if they dump materials in public locations.
Last year, the council spent almost £1 million to remove fly-tipped waste, at a time when public funds are tight, and the council is currently having to find £73 million in savings in the next financial year.
The intelligence-led awareness campaign, which is also using street stencils to highlight the cost of the offence, is the latest instalment of the new Keep Liverpool Tidy partnership between the City Council and Keep Britain Tidy.
As part of phase one of the new campaign, the City Council launched a ‘shame’ approach at the start of November across all of its social media channels, utilising imagery from a new generation of CCTV cameras it has installed.
The sharing of images of offenders caught in the act is being used to make residents aware that the council is watching those who illegally fly tip and is taking action to hold them responsible. The tactic has been hugely successful, generating more than 1 million views and drawing extensive media coverage.
Since the campaign launch, the council’s City Watch and Street Scene team has identified 23 cases for potential prosecution. Two culprits have already accepted responsibility and £400 fines have successfully been issued. Evidence is also being compiled for a number of cases to be sent to court.
Joanne Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool, who is also the Cabinet lead for Waste Management in the city, said: “We’re serious about tackling fly-tipping here in Liverpool and that’s why we have launched our new campaign to ensure we are making our neighbourhoods cleaner.
“Fly-tipping and other types of waste crime ruin our neighbourhoods and environment, and everyone has a responsibility to ensure that waste is disposed of legally and safely. This means making sure that anyone who is handling your waste is licensed to do so, it is also important you know where your waste will end up, otherwise you run the risk of receiving a £400 fine or even in some cases, legal action.
“To support phase two of our campaign, we are in the process of recruiting five new enforcement officers to provide additional support in tackling the issue and significantly reducing the number of fly-tipping incidents in our city.”
The 10 hotspot locations for the new fly-tipping campaign are:
Picton: Liberty St
Picton: Smithdown Rd/Longfellow St
Picton/Greenbank: Lawrence Rd
Anfield: Becky St
Kirkdale: Love Lane
Tuebrook: Lower Breck Rd
Tuebrook: Buckingham Rd
Central/City Centre: Fleet St
Princes Park: Huskisson St
Garston: Blackburne St
To find out more about how to report fly-tipping and how to prevent fly-tipping in your area, visit https://liverpool.gov.uk/environmental-problems/rubbish-and-litter/flytipping/
