Trafford Council is taking a tougher stand against environmental crime by increasing its capacity to issue fines to people who litter or illegally dump their waste.
Starting on Tuesday, 1st October officers from environmental enforcement firm 3GS Service have been engaged by the Council to carry out street patrols in Trafford.
They will issue on-the-spot £80 fines to people caught dropping litter – including cigarette butts and chewing gum. A key focus will also be to target fly-tippers who persistently choose to blight the environment of local neighbourhoods and will be fined £200 or prosecuted.
Every year, Trafford Council spends substantial sums of taxpayers hard earned money cleaning up after those who refuse to be responsible, money that could be spent on other environmental priorities.
In addition, over a number of years the Council has promoted its successful #BeResponsible campaign working to educate local people and tackle the cause for concern at it cause and help to ensure rubbish isn’t thrown in the first place.
The 12-month scheme will be self-financing with the costs of enforcement being met from the income from the fixed penalty notices. Any additional money generated from the fines will be ring-fenced and invested in similar environmental schemes.
The Council is also asking visitors and residents to do their bit by reporting any incidents of waste being dumped. Descriptions of people, and any vehicle registrations, can be reported online at report fly-tipping
and rubbish
Cllr Stephen Adshead, Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality and Climate Change, said:
We are passionate about ensuring our neighbourhoods are clean and attractive places to live in, but we still face problems with more and more rubbish being dumped in alleyways and litter being dropped. This is something we have never tolerated and will take even tougher action to show we are serious about tacking this issue.
We’re asking everyone for their support, so that together we can make where you live in Trafford a place to be really proud of.”
Officers from 3GS will wear a uniform and carry body cameras while on patrols, and will identify themselves to the public.
Posted on Tuesday 1st October 2019