The shockingly low number of kirklees fly-tippers fined or prosecuted last year

Less than one per cent of Kirklees fly-tippers were fined or prosecuted in 2024/25, despite the council’s ‘zero tolerance’ approach. Between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, 10,120

fly-tipping incidents were reported to Kirklees Council. Fifty-three Fixed Penalty Notices were issued during this period and 21 people were prosecuted in court. The council says there are

more decisions to come over the next few months. The latest figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), revealed that in 2023/2024 there were 8,317 cases of

fly-tipping reported in Kirklees, and 7,182 in 2022/23. Forty-eight Fixed Penalty Notices were issued in this time. Household waste accounted for 31% of the borough’s illegally dumped

rubbish reports in these years. Several local councillors have raised concern that the blight of fly-tipping has been exacerbated since the closure of Birstall’s tip, and reduction of hours

at the Meltham and Upper Cumberworth sites. When the changes to the Household Waste Recycling Centres were agreed, the council said it would be “closely monitoring” the situation and taking

action where appropriate, reiterating its ‘zero-tolerance’ approach to fly-tipping. Most recently, the council said there was “no evidence” to suggest the problem had worsened in the Meltham

area since hours were slashed at the local tip. Commenting on the instances of fly-tipping in 2024/25, Cllr Munir Ahmed, former Cabinet Member for Highways and Environment said: “Our aim is

to keep Kirklees’ places and spaces as clean and green as possible but in order to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice for fly tipping we need evidence that links the waste back to a person. “We

rely on people who witness fly tipping to provide us with a statement. Not having this evidence can hinder the number of fines we can issue and the number of offenders who can be

prosecuted.” The findings from DEFRA also painted a pretty bleak picture of the issue across Yorkshire and the Humber, with 85,568 incidents reported in 2023/24, rising from 78,174 in the

previous year. The most afflicted locations were footpaths and bridgeways (31%), while household waste made up 65% of the illegally dumped rubbish. As for some of Kirklees’ neighbouring

local authorities, Calderdale saw 1,371 instances of fly-tipping reported in 2023/24 and 1,362 in 2022/23. But Bradford was particularly badly hit, with 18,456 reports in 2023/24 and 15,402

in 2022/23. _GET ALL THE LATEST AND BREAKING NEWS IN YORKSHIRE BY_ _SIGNING UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER HERE._