Murdo Fraser MSP has welcomed the approach of Perth and Kinross Council to combat the scourge of fly-tipping.
The Scottish Conservative politician was commenting following the release of the local authority’s Progress of Perth and Kinross Fly-tipping strategy. This sets out how the Council have been dealing with fly-tipping across the region.
Commenting on the fly-tipping strategy, Mr Fraser, who is progressing with his Members’ Bill on Fly-tipping at the Scottish Parliament, said: “I very much welcome some of the measures that have been used by Perth and Kinross Council to deal with fly-tipping as they tie in with what I am trying to do. Some aspects of their strategy overlap with the main aims of my Fly-tipping Bill, such as increasing the penalties for those caught fly tipping and working on getting better data collection by setting up reporting protocols with the police, the Procurator Fiscal and SEPA.
“I am also pleased to see the Council have established a single point of contact has been established for fly-tipping issues and concerns with the aim being to make it easier for communities, residents and elected members to report concerns. And I am encouraged by the fact that IT systems have been updated to record fly-tipping activities to enable effective monitoring and recording.”
Mr Fraser continued: “Better data collection is one of the main themes of my Members’ Bill as there are currently too many bodies involved and I feel we need a more centralised, co-ordinated organisation to collect information on fly-tipping incidents.
“Another aspect of Perth and Kinross Council’s fly-tipping approach that should prove to be very useful is that they have rolled out evidence-gathering procedures, which have been agreed with Safer Communities Wardens and Parking Attendants. This will hopefully help in providing evidence of incidents where fly-tipping is dumped on the likes of farmland, and thus removing liability from the innocent landowner and putting it on the generator of the waste. These two factors are integral to my Members’ Bill and I have spoken to the Minister for Green Skills and the Circular Economy, Lorna Slater MSP, who has promised to look further into these matters. I may well put forward some amendments along these lines as her Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill progresses at Holyrood.”
