Five people have attended court and received fines totalling almost £4,000 for anti-social behaviour.
Kirklees Council’s Greenspace Action Team is sending a clear message to residents that anti-social behaviour such as improper waste disposal will not be tolerated across the borough.
The five cases involved residents not clearing waste from their properties and fly-tipping.
Mahmud Ul-Haq was fined a total of £1,400 for not clearing waste from his garden in Dewsbury after he failed to comply with a Community Protection Notice (CPN).
Arfan Saddiq from Lockwood, Huddersfield was charged for not complying with Sections 33 and 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when he fly-tipped waste at Hall Lane, Thornhill, Dewsbury. His guilty plea saw him fined a total of £1,010.
Wayne Thompson and Sharon Lindsay of Soothill, Batley failed to comply with a CPN regarding the accumulation of waste in their garden. Both received fines of £345. Thompson failed to attend court to answer charges relating to his failure to clear the waste.
John Parker of Dewsbury pleaded guilty to a charge of losing control of household waste under Section 34 Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was subsequently arrested before appearing in court and being fined £688.
In addition to the above court cases, the GAT team quickly took action to arrange the removal of an unroadworthy vehicle being used to advertise scrap cars in Honley.
Colin Parr, Strategic Director for Environment and Climate Change at Kirklees Council said: “The outcome of the cases represents a significant success in our battle against anti-social behaviour in Kirklees.
“All the cases involve residents who have not disposed of waste properly. Where possible, we try to work with residents but unfortunately, some do not respond, they must think that they are above the law but then end up in court. We will not shy away from this last resort which usually ends up with the resident facing a much bigger penalty, as is the case here.”
“We now have the right to reclaim our costs in finding these criminals and will make sure we do. There is no excuse for fly-tipping or any other sort of anti-social behaviour involving waste in Kirklees.
“The council provides substantial opportunities to dispose of domestic waste at our Household Waste Recycling Centres and we will not tolerate the thoughtless, selfish, and environmentally damaging actions of residents or businesses that break the law in this manner.”
Anyone spotting fly-tipping taking place or wanting to report an incident to the council can do so by visiting the website, here.
