South Holland District Council praise ‘excellent job’ of wardens in dishing out nearly 300 fines

Council bosses say that enviro-crime wardens are doing an ‘excellent job’ – despite only 38 fines being handed out for fly-tipping.

South Holland District Council says 296 Fixed Penalty notices have been handed out by wardens for issues such as littering and fly-tipping during the first part of 2024.

The council brought in contractor Kingdom LA Support last year to tackle environmental crimes with the promise that this was not just about ‘generating cash’ and that there would be an education campaign.

So far this year, the wardens have dished out 227 fines for littering and 38 for fly-tipping and the remaining 31 for other enviro-crimes including fly-posting, spitting, duty of care when disposing of waste and failure to produce waste transfer notes.

CounAnthony Casson, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection, said: “As a rural authority, enviro-crime is one of the biggest challenges we face, but our public protection team working in partnership with Kingdom LA Support Ltd continue to do an excellent job to combat the issue.

“Their hard work in the first part of the year is greatly appreciated and it is our hope that we can send a message to any and all would-be offenders that enviro-crime will not be tolerated anywhere across South Holland and we will use every method at our disposal to tackle this issue.”

The district council – which keeps a 10 per cent cut of the fines – says that issuing fixed penalty notices provides an ‘opportunity for an offender to admit responsibility for the offence and pay a fine without going through a traditional prosecution in the courts’.

Those that refuse to pay could end up in the courts – and the council has prosecuted 46 people in this manner since last March.

Last year the council raised penalties for environmental crimes including fly-tipping and littering to act as a deterrent to would-be offenders living and visiting South Holland.

The council’s website states that there is no formal right to appeal against a notice.

Do you feel this is a fair way to tackle the problem or a money making scheme for the council? Have you been fined? Post a comment below...