Agenda item

To consider a motion submitted by Councillors Whitaker, Wood, Hartley and Redfern.

The motion is set out in the agenda papers. Officer’s briefing published 17^th June 2022.

Notice of the following motion had been given to the Chief Executive, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15, by Councillors Whitaker, Hartley, Redfern and Wood.  

“Lancaster City Council notes:

a)    Fly tipping instances are a growing concern of residents across the District.

b)    In response to a question from Cllr Whitaker in December 2021, the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, Cllr Brookes, stated “We also attended a Keep Britain Tidy webinar on fly-tipping, highlighting a programme of evidence-based interventions KBT developed and tested in the London Borough of Newham. KBT is offering to deliver this programme with a limited number of other councils around the country, and we are pursuing bringing this to Lancaster district, with a focus on hotspots in Morecambe. In the meantime we have joined the Keep Britain Tidy Network which gives us access to resources, learning events, best practice guidance etc.”

c)     This Council meeting marks the week in which the six-week trial (from 16^th May 2022) ends, where different measures to combat fly tipping were tested in Poulton, Harbour, Overton, Skerton East and Skerton West Wards.

d)    The trial interventions in the selected Wards were promised to be “… robustly monitored and evaluated with a view to understanding how effective they are in reducing illegal dumping, both in the short term and over a longer period.”

e)    The recent success reported by Newham LBC working collaboratively with Keep Britain Tidy on initiatives to address Fly Tipping.

f)      Newham LBC’s five fly tipping interventions piloted since 2018, namely:

Crime scene tape – placement of high-visibility tape and stickers on fly tips and leaving these for three days before removal, plus local communications about responsible ways to deal with waste. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 67%

Social impact stencils – stencilling the spots where fly tipping had been cleared, with messages about the fact resources are drawn away from the community when spent on clearing fly tipping, and to show that fly tips haven’t just ‘disappeared’. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 64%

No waste on streets – installation of specially designed units to ‘containerise’ and remove from view waste that is put out for collection at a specified time on a busy high street where it tended to attract fly tipping and litter. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 24%

Empowering schools – educating young people in four schools about fly tipping and its impacts. – Resulting in a 79% increase in students reporting that they know a lot about fly tipping after the project

Love your ward weekends – pop-up community events including an on-the day collection of bulky waste, as well as educational activities and beautification of the area through resident created murals and planters. – Resulting in four events attended by 430 residents. 70% of attendees surveyed agreed the events made them think twice about fly tipping in future. 68% of attendees agreed the events made them realise the lasting effect fly tipping can have on the community. One tonne of bulky waste was collected.

Lancaster City Council resolves to:

(1)     Provide a report to all members within three months of this meeting on the impact of the implementation social impact stencils six-week trial in Poulton and Harbour Wards; and crime scene tape trial on instances of fly tipping in the Wards of Harbour, Overton and Skerton East and Skerton West; and

(2)     Provide quarterly updates to our community on all initiatives being trialled or implemented to further reduce fly tipping across the district to commence no later than November 2022.”

An officer briefing note had been circulated with the agenda.

The Mayor asked Councillor Whitaker if he wished to propose his motion and he replied that he did. Councillor Hartley then seconded the motion.

The Mayor moved on to take questions for the proposer of the motion. After dealing with one question there was an interjection from another Councillor to say that the motion had not been proposed fully by Councillor Whitaker.

The Mayor asked Councillor Whitaker if he wished to speak to his motion and he did do so at that point.

At the conclusion of a lengthy debate a vote was taken and the motion was very clearly carried with no one voting ‘against’ and only one abstention.

Resolved:-

Lancaster City Council notes:

a)    Fly tipping instances are a growing concern of residents across the District.

b)    In response to a question from Cllr Whitaker in December 2021, the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, Cllr Brookes, stated “We also attended a Keep Britain Tiy webinar on fly-tipping, highlighting a programme of evidence-based interventions KBT developed and tested in the London Borough of Newham. KBT is offering to deliver this programme with a limited number of other councils around the country, and we are pursuing bringing this to Lancaster district, with a focus on hotspots in Morecambe. In the meantime we have joined the Keep Britain Tidy Network which gives us access to resources, learning events, best practice guidance etc.”

c)     This Council meeting marks the week in which the six-week trial (from 16^th May 2022) ends, where different measures to combat fly tipping were tested in Poulton, Harbour, Overton, Skerton East and Skerton West Wards.

d)    The trial interventions in the selected Wards were promised to be “… robustly monitored and evaluated with a view to understanding how effective they are in reducing illegal dumping, both in the short term and over a longer period.”

e)    The recent success reported by Newham LBC working collaboratively with Keep Britain Tidy on initiatives to address Fly Tipping.

f)      Newham LBC’s five fly tipping interventions piloted since 2018, namely:

Crime scene tape – placement of high-visibility tape and stickers on fly tips and leaving these for three days before removal, plus local communications about responsible ways to deal with waste. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 67%

Social impact stencils – stencilling the spots where fly tipping had been cleared, with messages about the fact resources are drawn away from the community when spent on clearing fly tipping, and to show that fly tips haven’t just ‘disappeared’. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 64%

No waste on streets – installation of specially designed units to ‘containerise’ and remove from view waste that is put out for collection at a specified time on a busy high street where it tended to attract fly tipping and litter. – Reducing fly tipping by an average of 24%

Empowering schools – educating young people in four schools about fly tipping and its impacts. – Resulting in a 79% increase in students reporting that they know a lot about fly tipping after the project

Love your ward weekends – pop-up community events including an on-the day collection of bulky waste, as well as educational activities and beautification of the area through resident created murals and planters. – Resulting in four events attended by 430 residents. 70% of attendees surveyed agreed the events made them think twice about fly tipping in future. 68% of attendees agreed the events made them realise the lasting effect fly tipping can have on the community. One tonne of bulky waste was collected.

Lancaster City Council resolves to:

(1)     Provide a report to all members within three months of this meeting on the impact of the implementation social impact stencils six-week trial in Poulton and Harbour Wards; and crime scene tape trial on instances of fly tipping in the Wards of Harbour, Overton and Skerton East and Skerton West; and

(2)     Provide quarterly updates to our community on all initiatives being trialled or implemented to further reduce fly tipping across the district to commence no later than November 2022.