A fly-tipper was caught red-handed by council officials as he illegally dumped building waste.
Two enforcement officers from Caerphilly County Borough Council were investigating another instance of fly-tipping at Mill Lane in Ystrad Mynach when they witnessed John Beckett dumping bags of rubble which included soil, wood, cushions and plasterboard.
Beckett, 30, of William Street, Trethomas, appeared before Caerphilly Magistrates Court on October 11 and admitted the offence.
He was ordered to pay a £200 fine, as well as £624.23 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Cllr Dave Poole, cabinet member responsible for community and leisure services, said: “Fly-tipping is a serious offence and this spot in particular, at Mill Lane, Ystrad Mynach is a hot spot for the small minority of irresponsible people who ruin our beautiful county borough by fly-tipping.
“I am pleased that two of our enforcement officers were on hand to witness the offence and would encourage any resident who witness an offence of this nature to report it without delay.”
Again we see a Cabinet member, rolled out, to state the obvious, and we see the local magistrates court apply a fine of £200 for the appalling crime of fly tipping.
The Cabinet member, again, saying how pleased he is with the outcome. Is`nt it about time the Caerphilly council considered the grossly disproportionate penalties being applied by the Caerphilly Magistrates for littering and the more serious crime of fly tipping, for instance, a dog owner fined £500 for failing to clean up after her dog, and a man who plans to travel seven or eight miles from his home, to an area where he thought he would not be ` caught` with a vehicle full of rubble, soft furnishings, and, more seriously, plasterboard, (even the Caerphilly Council have their own regulations in respect to the same disposal of plasterboard.) is fined £200.
It is this disproportion in the penalty system, being applied by local magistrates and applauded by a senior Cabinet Member of the Caerphilly Council for the courts doing their bidding, which makes them all look like a joke.
I am VERY pleased that something is being done about fly tipping and dog owners who don't clean up their dogs mess,it's quite simple clean up or pay up.
Just recent a man walking his dog off a lead I may add was quite happy for his dog to mess on my lawn,I witnessed this and the dog owner told me oh it's ok he is only having a wee,hmm what would that same dog owner say if I was only having a wee on his Drive?
The sooner the dog owners and fly tippers realise they are NOT going to get away with it the better for everyone.
I agree with every word Simon Says.
My concern is the mockery being made of the very penalty system which is there to ` deter` offenders from offending, and, in such cases, accept their civic responsibilty and mend their ways. That will not happen whilst there is so much disproportionate application of the penalty system, for relative offenses, by local magistrates.
It is a joke.