There were nearly 10,000 incidents of fly tipping in Harrow between April 2021 and March 2022, according to statistics released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The figures showed that there were 9,802 incidents of fly tipping in that time period, an increase of nearly 30 per cent compared to the year before. Despite the increase in incidents, action taken against fly tippers decreased from the previous year.
Although Harrow was better than 13 other London Boroughs for overall incidents of fly tipping, it was the worst for commercial industrial incidents, and for watercourse or bank incidents.
There were also 66 asbestos-related incidents in Harrow, more than any other London borough.
Harrow also led with the most chemical drums, oil, and fuel incidents in London.
Despite this, Harrow Council only took action on 291 occasions – the third lowest out of all London boroughs.
To tackle this, Harrow Council approved their Corporate Plan at a full council meeting on Thursday, February 23, which will see at least 15 mobile CCTV cameras installed in fly tipping hotspots.
Councillor Anjana Patel, Portfolio Holder for Environment & Community Safety, said: “These figures relate to the previous administration in Harrow. Our new administration is working hard to improve fly tipping enforcement as one of our key priorities.
“In the last three months alone, our enforcement team have issued more than 350 fines to offenders where evidence has been found linking them to the crime.
“Our new corporate plan, approved in February, includes a commitment to install at least 15 additional mobile CCTV cameras in fly tipping hotspots. We have also introduced a free bulky waste collection and improved access to our civic amenity site, to give residents more options to dispose of waste legally.
“We are currently reviewing our fly-tipping strategy which will look to take further enforcement action and enhance our approach on this issue.
“Our officers regularly investigate reported fly-tips and where there is evidence found, fines are issued. However we cannot do this alone – we also rely of members of the public who have witnessed fly-tipping to not just report it to us, but also be willing to provide witness statements.
“There is no excuse for fly-tipping in our borough. Disposing of waste is easy with our fortnightly collections, Civic Amenity site, trade waste and bulky waste collections.”
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