Builders under fire for on-site waste tipping

FLY-TIPPING is on the rise. Public Services recently removed 46 tonnes of waste from the Torrey Canyon quarry and deputies have accused builders of filling holes on-site rather than taking rubbish to the tip.

During the waste debate in the States, it was revealed that the amount of rubbish entering Mont Cuet was down 8% for the beginning of this year compared with last year.

'I look around some cliff headlands, some lanes, and I can tell you where some of that rubbish is. It's being fly-tipped by some people who frankly should be put in the tip with it,' said Home minister Mike Torode.

'There's no way that should happen on our island.'

He added that a builder said to him not to look at the bigger building sites because they were simply filling big holes with waste and then covering them up.

To cover the cost of preparatory work for the scrapped '80m. Longue Hougue incinerator, tipping charges rose '25 this year, with the same increase set for the next two years.

Public Services minister Bill Bell is concerned about the amount of tipping space at Mont Cuet.

'It's very limited, maybe eight or nine years at present estimates.'

Figures taken from the Weighbridge data show that between January and April, 23,330 tonnes was taken to the tip, compared with 25,374 for the same period last year.

He said the difference was in many ways accounted for by the surcharge.

'One of the major changes is in the amount of builders' waste presented, which is down 3,130 tonnes to 1,826 tonnes, a 41.5% drop, which makes up much of the difference,' he said.

'One of the problems is builders' waste. I believe there's some evidence that waste is now being buried or disposed of in other ways.'

He said fly-tipping was going to be one of the problems of the future as people found cheaper way to dispose of their rubbish.

There is currently legislation in place that covers it, but not specifically.

This is set to change under the new Environmental Pollution (Guernsey) Law 2004, which should be back before the House later this year alongside a waste ordinance.

Different legislation could be brought to bear on fly-tippers.

'This department is concerned with the accumulation of material, which could include waste, that can be a statutory nuisance under the public health law,' said Environmental Health chief officer John Cook.

'That is, they are prejudicial to health or clearly will be, for which a notice can be served requiring abatement, and failure to do that is an offence.'

Environment Department and Guernsey Water legislation could also cover fly-tipping.

'None of these make direct reference to fly-tipping, which could perhaps fall outside all these specific criteria.

'Under the new control of environmental pollution law, a waste ordinance will be introduced that will make it illegal to deposit or handle waste without proper approval. That could be used itself against fly-tipping.'

The ordinance would not cover minor activities such as putting out dustbins.

Mr Cook was unaware of specific incidences currently.

'If you knock down a building, just burying things like plasterboard and roofing felt is not acceptable and would require authorisation.'

Environment director of environmental services and operations Alastair Ford said: 'Fly-tippers break a number of different laws and in doing so, spoil our beautiful landscape. What's particularly unfortunate is that it is so easy for large items to be disposed of legally, easily and without any cost to the individual.

'The Environment Department's bulk refuse scheme gives people a chance for bulky items like beds, furniture or even cars to be removed from their own properties at no charge.

'Every Monday on page two of the Guernsey Press, the department places an advertisement for the service. The application form is part of the advert and it's available online, too. While we have powers under the Refuse Disposal Ordinance of 1959, and we are quite prepared to use them, we would of course prefer people took advantage of the convenient free services in place already.'