NEW measures from the Scottish Government to prevent litter and fly-tipping have been welcomed by MSPs in the region.
Fines for illegal fly tipping are to more than double to £500 as part of a six-year National Litter and Fly-tipping Strategy, which sets out how national and local government, business, the third sector, communities and individuals can work together to drive behaviour change and strengthen enforcement.
It also includes the introduction of new powers to impose a fine on the registered keeper of a vehicle from which a littering offence is committed and a new national online litter hub to provide information, advice and support on tackling litter and littering behaviour.
South Scotland SNP MSP Emma Harper said it is “long overdue”. She added: “Fly-tipping is a deplorable practice which blights communities right across Dumfries and Galloway and wider Scotland. I am pleased the Scottish Government has announced these much needed and long awaited additional new powers to better address fly-tipping and to show that any case will be taken seriously.
“More than doubling the fines for fly-tipping to £500 will help incentivise litter bugs to think hard before they dump rubbish onto our streets.
“I urge anyone impacted by fly-tipping to report this to the local authority quickly, so the culprit can be identified.”
Although supportive, Galloway and West Dumfries MSP Finlay Carson believes that they do not go far enough and wants a more
‘forceful approach’ towards pursing offenders and bring them to book.
He said: “It’s high time the SNP-Green government acknowledged this problem, which blights Scotland’s landscape, and causes terrible environmental damage in both rural and urban areas.
“I’m pleased to see measures being incorporated and I also welcome increased powers. But the government has not chosen to remove liability from the person affected, which is a blow to landowners and victims.
He noted that just 16 fines were dished out for littering across Dumfries and Galloway last year – compared to 19 in each of the previous two years.
Mr Carson continued: “There must also be much more forceful pursuit of offenders.
“Across too much of the country it is far too easy to get away with dumping waste and I believe it must be much more vigilantly policed.
“There should be no excuse for the discarding of rubbish on the streets of our towns, countryside and even some of our rural villages.”
