Dispute over costs of clearing up flytipping (From This is The West Country)
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Dispute over costs of clearing up flytipping
8:00am Saturday 29th December 2012 in Somerset
THE agency responsible for managing Somerset's waste has played down figures released by Defra estimating the cost of clearing up flytipping in the county.
Somerset Waste Partnership has said the true cost of the problem, based on figures supplied by the five district councils up to the end of March 2012, is more in the region of £150,000, rather than the £303,616 quoted by Defra last month.
Defra's estimates are based on national averages but SWP's research shows Somerset's councils have been able to do the job for significantly less.
They also take into account the £48,000 paid back to district councils by Somerset County Council to cover a predicted rise in flytipping after charges were applied at recycling sites in an effort to save £1.9million a year.
Cllr Derek Yeomans, chairman of the Somerset Waste Board, which is made up of members of each of Somerset's six councils, said: “With fly-tipping levels across the county falling in 2012/13 - as we predicted - we expect the bill to be even lower for the current year.
“Most critically, Somerset County Council has worked together with the district councils to ensure they do not have to pick up the financial burden of the savings it reluctantly made and to jointly tackle the criminal and anti-social behaviour that lies behind flytipping.”
Comments(22)
Amused&Bemused
says...
11:43am Sat 29 Dec 12
Paul762
says...
12:55pm Sat 29 Dec 12
First there were lies, then damned lies, then statistics. As per usual with statistics, they can be manipulated to look good even when they are bad. This is a case of swapping budgets which hides the real cost.
YES - costs of running the waste disposal sites will have improved with the reduced hours and charging in some cases. But at the same time, another budget that is using OUR rate payers money, has increased enormously, due to the cost of clearing up fly tipping etc.
FreeSpeech?
says...
1:54pm Sat 29 Dec 12
Dick Turpin Works For Council
says...
1:54pm Sat 29 Dec 12
However, there are some people that won't even drive to the tip when it's open.
Scumbags are scumbags are scumbags. Always.
This one is really easy, except that our "elected representatives" as some people call them are too chicken. Divide the exact cost of clearing up the mess by the number of offenders e.g. £500,000/500 convicted offenders=£1000 each.
While we're about it, lets increase our vigilance to ensure more convictions.
Easy really, surprised that no councillor has thought of it!
Son of Dredgewater
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4:13pm Sat 29 Dec 12
souwesterly
says...
10:07pm Sat 29 Dec 12
Falling! Where the heck did he get that idea?
Ah - yes - that's the amount of fly-tipping that they bother to clear up that's falling. It obviously does not include all the many piles of rubble and rubbish that they conveniently can't be bothered to deal with; often dumped on private land or in out-of-the-way places.
And are they really....."jointly tackling the criminal and anti-social behaviour...."?
How many court cases have there been in recent months?
And regardless of the figures - how many prosecutions should there have been?
Anyone need a good massage? These guys must be experts....
FreeSpeech?
says...
12:02pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Please SCG if you do not wish reasoned comment and argument then don't bother having a comment section and ignore the ignorant, biased moaners.
Monument
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3:25pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Please can you be more aware of overtly racist comment and act more swiftly to remove these offensive and potentially illegal rants.
Dick Turpin Works For Council
says...
3:36pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Monument wrote:Am I missing something, Monument?
SCG
Please can you be more aware of overtly racist comment and act more swiftly to remove these offensive and potentially illegal rants.
I've re-read all the comments posted on this article and can't find a single racist or potentially illegal rant.
Would you care to elaborate?
FreeSpeech?
says...
3:46pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Must mean UKIP are all racists and xenophobes.
Monument
says...
3:58pm Mon 31 Dec 12
I think you can now see where the issue lies.
Unfortunately some think that freespeech means you can say anything you like and whose only retort is abuse. They do not realise that comments made can be libelous or criminal and as a result SCG have to delete the comments or lock a story preventing further comment.
More and more comment threads are being hijacked by those whose only purpose in life seems to be to abuse others and pick pointless arguements. It would not surprise me in the least if the comments facility at SCG is discontinued if it continues.
Stronger, more timely moderation is urgently required.
FreeSpeech?
says...
4:09pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Monument wrote:Roughly translated he means lets resort to dictatorship and censorship to remove anything he disagrees with, which makes him a bit of a fascist really. Of course wrongly calling someone a racist wouldn't be construed as abusive or libellous would it so sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
Dick Turpin
I think you can now see where the issue lies.
Unfortunately some think that freespeech means you can say anything you like and whose only retort is abuse. They do not realise that comments made can be libelous or criminal and as a result SCG have to delete the comments or lock a story preventing further comment.
More and more comment threads are being hijacked by those whose only purpose in life seems to be to abuse others and pick pointless arguements. It would not surprise me in the least if the comments facility at SCG is discontinued if it continues.
Stronger, more timely moderation is urgently required.
Dick Turpin Works For Council
says...
4:37pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Monument: your views about someone's opinion on another topic are of no relevance to flytipping.
FreeSpeech?: you've probably lost the argument (and any credibility) the moment you call another contributor "a bit of a fascist"
FreeSpeech?
says...
6:08pm Mon 31 Dec 12
souwesterly
says...
6:11pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Monument wrote:What are you on?
SCG
Please can you be more aware of overtly racist comment and act more swiftly to remove these offensive and potentially illegal rants.
Surely if I want to criticise someone then this is the place to do so. It's a free forum, isn't it?
Ok - if the SCG opt to remove our comments then that's for their own editors or moderators to decide.
But for you to hijack this thread and to refer to something that I personally, know nothing about, is the equivalent of an illegal rant.
Monument
says...
7:07pm Mon 31 Dec 12
My entry was not random it was making comment on the entry before mine.
Dick Turpin Works For Council
says...
7:11pm Mon 31 Dec 12
Times two
Mike Rigby
says...
9:25pm Tue 1 Jan 13
FreeSpeech?
says...
2:35pm Wed 2 Jan 13
A customer asked, "In what aisle could I find the Irish sausage?"
The assistant asks, "Are you Irish?"
The guy, clearly offended, says, "Yes I am. But let me ask you something. If I had asked for Italian sausage,
would you ask me if I was Italian?
Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst, would you ask me if I was German?
Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog would you ask me if I was Jewish?
Or if I had asked for a Taco, would you ask if I was Mexican?
Or if I asked for Polish sausage, would you ask if I was Polish?"
The assistant says, "No, I probably wouldn't."
The guy says, "Well then, just because I asked for Irish sausage, why did you ask me if I'm Irish?"
The assistant replied, "Because you're in Halfords."
FreeSpeech?
says...
8:59pm Wed 2 Jan 13
jimee
says...
1:31pm Thu 3 Jan 13
Mike Rigby says...
10:56am Sat 29 Dec 12