County is used as a dumping ground (From Dorset Echo)

County is used as a dumping ground

10:10am Monday 23rd March 2009 in Search By Joanna Davis

ENOUGH furniture to fill the room of a house has been found dumped in Weymouth, Portland and the West Dorset countryside.

The Echo collected a number of household items dumped by fly-tippers including a television, armchair, rug, bed, mattress, computer hard drive, flower pot and kitchen cupboard doors within a few hours on a single day.

The eyesore items were strewn across Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, residential areas, coastal spots and picturesque country lanes.

Robin Bawtree, director of the Dorset branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the Echo’s findings show there is a ‘major problem’ with fly-tipping in Dorset.

“It’s a sad state of affairs. We live in a throw-away society and rather than repair things, we replace them,” he added.

Mr Bawtree blasted the perpetrators of the offences, for which tax-payers across the county are forced to pick up the bill.

He said: “It’s very anti-social to fly-tip and it provides a blot on our beautiful countryside and is a significant threat to wildlife.

“I cannot imagine what people think when they are doing it – do they think someone else is going to pick it up?

“They always seem to think it is someone else’s problem.

“It’s a matter of educating people.

“Somehow we must persuade people that they must dispose of their rubbish in a civilised manner by taking it to one of the waste management centres in the county.”

Portland town councillor Robert Tocher said that fly-tipping on Portland – where the Echo found some of the household items – shows no sign of improvement.

“It’s like banging your head against a brick wall. If you are visiting this area it doesn’t look very good.

“Portland is like a dumping ground,” he said.

Some 14 fridges and fridge freezers were recently found dumped in the heart of Hardy country, close to Higher Bockhampton.

Stinsford Parish Council’s Andrew Thomson said: “I’ve been on the parish council for four years and this is the worst example of fly-tipping in the area that I’ve seen.”

Ian Doyle, director of services for West Dorset District Council, said that fly-tipping is an issue all over the country.

He added: “It costs people money to take things away and as soon as there are pound signs involved, it changes things.

“There are rogue people who advertise that they can get rid of things cheaply and just dump them on a piece of land.

“There are problems with prosecution because the difficulty is getting evidence as fly-tipping can be done anywhere at any time.”

Tim Munro, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s spokesman for community safety, said: “The council receives complaints about fly-tipping fairly regularly, but fortunately the amounts of fly-tipped waste do tend to be relatively small in the borough.

“We do what we can to control fly tipping – we respond to complaints within 24 hours and don’t hesitate to issue fines or prosecute people when we have enough evidence.”

“Ultimately it is the duty of every one of us to dispose of the household or business waste we generate responsibly.”