Council urges Travellers to come forward with information on Dale Farm fly-tippers - Essex

From Basildon Council

Basildon Council is calling on both local residents and the Traveller community at Oak Lane to work with them to help tackle the fly-tipping issue at the former Dale Farm site in Crays Hill.

Local authorities do not have a duty to remove rubbish from private land and limited powers to deal with fly-tipping on private land, Basildon Council’s leader, Cllr Tony Ball is urging local residents of the area, including the travelling community living at Oak Lane, to come forward with any information that may help to identify those fly-tipping.

Cllr Tony Ball, Leader of the Council, says:

“I share the frustrations and anger expressed by local residents at the fly-tipping that has taken place at the former Dale Farm Traveller site. Somebody is responsible for doing this and I would appeal to all people living locally to report any suspicious activity to the authorities. There is now a significant amount of debris accumulating and has become an eyesore.

"The people best placed to catch those responsible are of course those living in the immediate vicinity. Fly tipping is a criminal activity so I would appeal to local people to remain vigilant and let the authorities have any information that might be useful. Registration numbers of vehicles used for dumping are particularly useful when tracking the culprits down so I would ask all local people to keep their eyes and ears open and report anything they see.

"Ultimately local authorities only have the powers to tackle fly tipping on public land and this incident is on private land, so is therefore the responsibility of the landowners. I would urge the Travellers who own the land to take responsibility for this issue. If they are witnessing fly-tipping, or they know who is doing this, then they should report as much information as they have to the authorities, as fly-tipping is a criminal offence.

"This is an example of how the Council cannot do everything for local people - but if the Travellers living at Oak Lane wish to cooperate with us then we have a much better chance of solving the problem together.

“In the meantime we have stated all along that the Council intends to return the area to a site that is in keeping with its greenbelt status and is committed to recovering the costs of the original operation in 2011. However, there is a due process to be followed, and whilst this is frustrating and takes time, it is a process that we must follow.”

If you witness fly-tipping, at Oak Lane or anywhere across the borough, you can call the council’s street care team on 01268 294949 who will look into the incident.