The cost to local authorities in England to clear large fly-tipping incidents totalled £13.2 million in 2023. With 60% of fly-tips involving household waste and 42,000 incidents were of ‘tipper lorry load’ size or larger, members are often left with significant clear up costs after incidents on their land.
The NFU has welcomed recent government initiatives to help combat the issue, including increasing the maximum penalty for fly-tipping from £400 to £1000 under the Antisocial Behaviour Plan and funding a new fly-tipping post within the National Rural Crime Unit.
In Hertfordshire, the Police and Crime Commissioner offers funding to help farmers. If fly tipping occurs on private land or farmland, farmers and landowners can apply for a grant to help clear the waste and prevent further fly tipping through prevention.
To access the fund, members affected by fly tipping should contact their respective district/borough council. This can be done via an electronic form found on the interactive map here. Contact information for your council can also be found at the bottom of this page.
NFU County Adviser Josh Redford said: "Fly-tipping continues to be a huge problem, and one that plagues the lives of so many of us living and working in the countryside, so this fund is welcome.
"However, ultimately we need tougher measures to tackle fly-tipping, including higher penalties that reflect the impact it has on the environment and those living and working in the countryside."
Find out more about the #scrapflytipping campaign.
Five steps to reporting fly tipping correctly in Hertfordshire
1. If you see fly tipping in action, call the police on 999 and report it as a crime in progress and be sure to capture this information:
a. Vehicle details.
b. Description or photos of fly tippers.
c. Direction they travelled.
2. Upon discovering a fly tip along a highway, follow this link to report the obstruction to Hertfordshire County Council.
3. Upon discovering a fly tip on private farmland, follow this link to find the electronic form for your district or borough.
4. Once reported:
a. Ensure any evidence is not disturbed.
b. Dispose of the waste legally. It is the private landowner's responsibility to ensure the waste is legally disposed of.
c. Ensure waste is collected by a registered waste carrier.
5. After reporting a fly tip on private land, contact your district/borough council to apply for the fly tipping fund.
Further information of the fund and reporting fly tipping can be found on the Hertfordshire Police & Crime Commissioner website.
Contact your local authority:
Broxbourne
[email protected]
01992 785555
Dacorum
[email protected]
01442 228000
East Herts
www.eastherts.gov.uk/flytipping
01279 655261
Hertsmere
[email protected]
0208 2072277
North Herts
[email protected]
0800 3286023
St Albans
[email protected]
01727 819598
Stevenage
[email protected]
01438 242666
Three Rivers
[email protected]
01923 776611
Watford
[email protected]
0203 5676900
Welwyn Hatfield
[email protected]
01707 357000
For more information, including advice, about the fly-tipping on private land fund, please email [email protected].