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Cllr Chris Knight and Roberto Molinari during the East Heath Road illegal waste crackdown |
Criminal waste warning over fly-tip builders
Residents could face fine, legal action
BUILDERS who illegally dump waste materials could leave the residents who hire them facing legal action and a heavy fine, the Town Hall has warned.
New European laws have shifted the emphasis to residents, who must check whether “commercial waste carriers” are properly licensed.
Camden enforcement officer Roberto Molinari said: “If we can trace the person [resident], they are ultimately responsible. Simply not knowing about this is no longer a defence a judge is going to accept.”
Mr Molinari has the task of sifting through rubbish dumped illegally in Camden’s streets.
“I find all kinds of things, from bank account details, personal letters and old family photographs,” he said. “A lot of the time, there are several loads mixed together. Grime means crime in my book. It makes a real difference. If you have rubbish, fly-tipping or graffiti in your locality it can lead to anti-social behaviour.”
Mr Molinari’s team targeted van drivers on East Heath Road, Hampstead, on Thursday morning, accompanied by police and members of the Driving Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Council officials said the presence of the police and the DVLA was to add legal muscle to Camden’s environmental officers, allowing them to check inside vans.
No illegal waste carriers were found, but a number of cars were found to be untaxed and two cars were towed to a pound in Tottenham.
A council officer said waste disposal was “big criminal business” and that stretches of Kilburn and Granary Street, a secluded one-way street in King’s Cross, were particular hotspots.
Mr Molinari said: “There was fly-tipping in Granary Street when the Channel Tunnel was being built. We found lots of London clay. The natural assumption is that these big developments are well controlled. But sometimes they are not.”
Mr Molinari believes there is a lucrative underground network of illegal dumping cartels offering their services to companies at knock-down prices. The problem stems, he says, from high landfill tax imposed by a government keen to ensure all waste is recycled in the future.
He said: “A waste carrier licence only costs about £144 for three years. What they are trying to avoid is the landfill. That’s about £140 a tonne. That’s why the cost is high and that is why there are people out there looking to avoid them.”
A Camden Council spokeswoman said landfill sites were expected to be full up in three years.
Environment chief Councillor Chris Knight, lead member for environment in the council, said: “I think people realise the council treats waste disposal seriously.”
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