Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters
From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today
There have been calls to reduce fly-tipping in Caerphilly County Borough in recent months.
In August, independent councillor Nigel Dix called for an improved approach and said the issue needs to be addressed at the source.
Cllr Dix, who represents Blackwood, said: “At the moment, you’ve built a six-foot fence and given people who fly-tip a seven-foot ladder.”
In response, a spokesperson for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “Every complaint of fly-tipping is investigated by the council and where there is sufficient evidence, we will take enforcement action including issuing fixed penalty notices and/or prosecutions.”
A senior councillor also hit back, saying the council took fly-tipping “seriously”.
Then, in September, chairman of the United Valley Action Group, Eddy Blanche, told Caerphilly Observer that this was a persistent issue in the Upper Rhymney Valley after a recent incident at Rhaslas pond near Fochriw.
Cllr Blanche, who also sits on Darran Valley Community Council, said: “Fly-tipping has been a scourge of the Upper Rhymney Valley for as long as I can remember.”
In order to understand how prevalent fly-tipping is across Caerphilly County Borough and the areas most affected Caerphilly Observer submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Here are the results.
Note: information provided is not representative of some 2022 boundary changes. For example, Aberbargoed and Bargoed are not represented as one ward in the data.
St Martin’s: the ward with the most fly-tipping
Now, we can reveal the ward with the most instances of fly-tipping in both 2021 and 2022 was St Martins.
In 2021, there were 293 reports from the ward compared to 230 in 2022.
In fact, St Martins is on track to have the highest number of reports again this year – figures provided up to June 13, 2023, show there have been 78 reports so far.
That means, of the 689 reports received from 32 wards listed in the data up to June 13, 2023, St Martins accounts for 11.3%.
St Martin’s, which is a ward that covers parts of Caerphilly town centre, including Cardiff Road and Caerphilly Railway Station, has a population of 8,500 according to the 2021 ONS Census.
The five wards with the highest fly-tipping reports in the calendar year 2021 were St. Martins, St. Cattwg, Aber Valley, Bargoed and Ynysddu.
Whereas in the calendar year of 2022, the wards with the highest number of fly-tipping reports were St Martins, St Cattwg, Ynysddu, Aber Valley and New Tredegar.
This means four wards were in the top five in both 2021 and 2022 - St Martins, St Cattwg, Aber Valley, and Ynysddu.
Residents 'more proactive'
Caerphilly Observer asked Caerphilly County Borough Council to provide a comment on why some wards seem to be more affected and also asked what can be done.
A spokesperson for the council said: “It is important to note that the figures quoted relate to the number of complaints received, which may not correlate to the number of actual incidents of fly-tipping.
“It may be the case that residents in this area are more proactive and likely to report such issues. The council takes fly-tipping seriously and always seeks to secure a prosecution if a perpetrator can be identified.
“We would ask residents to remain vigilant and report any such incidents for investigation.”
Decrease in reports from 2021
Despite calls for an improved approach to fly-tipping, statistics reveal that reports of fly-tipping actually decreased from calendar year 2021 to calendar year 2022 by 21%.
The statistics show there were 1,751 in 2021 compared to 1,382 in 2022.
As part of the FOI request, Caerphilly Observer also asked the council how much fly-tipping had cost in the last few years.
A council spokesperson said: “Our cleansing teams collect fly-tipping as part of their working shift and the tipping is disposed of with waste already collected.
“As staff do not record time per activity, we are unable to apportion a cost to responding to fly-tipping."
Instances of fly-tipping can be reported on the council’s website.
Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters
From just £1 a month you can help fund our work - and use our website without adverts.
Become a member today