IT COST Gwent councils more than £310,000 to clear up the mess left by fly-tipping in the last year, according to new figures releases yesterday.

Welsh Government statistics showed that Gwent councils dealt with 6,571 incidents of fly-tipping in 2010/11, costing them £310,798.

The total cost was down, however, on 2009/10 when councils faced a bill of £355,152 and dealt with 7,210 incidents.

Torfaen and Newport saw falls in the number of flytipping incidents their officers dealt with over the period, while waste workers in Caerphilly saw a rise in the number of incidents they had to deal with.

The Welsh Government said it has run initiatives to raise awareness of the scale of the problem and inform individuals of their legal duty to dispose of waste properly.

Environment minister John Griffiths, Newport East AM, said: “The illegal action of the minority is damaging to the environment, supporting organised crime and affects the quality of life in our communities.”

CLEARANCE COSTS

COUNCIL 2010/11 2009/10 Caerphilly £145,572 £100,006 Blaenau Gwent £14,380 £14,716 Torfaen £18,531 £51,760 Monmouthshire £22,492 £24,931 Newport £109,823 £163,739 Total £310,798 £355,152

NO OF INCIDENTS

COUNCIL 2010/11 2009/10 Caerphilly 2,680 1,560 Blaenau Gwent 237 230 Torfaen 361 746 Monmouthshire 645 659 Newport 2,648 4,015 Total 6,571 7,210

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The cost of tipping

OVERALL it cost the five local authorities of Gwent about £44,000 less last year to clear up the mess left by fly-tippers than it did the year before.

But before anyone thinks this is a success we should point out that it still cost local council taxpayers more than £310,000 to have the various forms of refuse left removed.

This is a huge waste of money at a time when every penny is vital and shows how some people are still utterly selfish and anti-social. It would be interesting to get behind the figures and see how much fly-tipping was due to businesses wanting to avoid charges and how much by the public who were simply too bone idle to take their waste to the council tips.

As an aside it is worth speculating on how many people dumped old fridges or washing-machines because of the rules forbidding them to take such items to council tips in a van.

People who fly-tip should be treated as criminals. Their activities despoil our environment and place a burden on the rest of us that is no different than if they had actually stolen a sum equivalent to the cost of clearing up their waste.