Dumping household waste in council-run tips will cost up to £70 from tomorrow, July 1.
A petition has been launched against changes that mean residents will need a permit to carry rubbish in small vans or trailers into Household Waste Recycling Centres.
The permits will cost £35 for vehicles up to the size of an escort van and trailers up to 1.8m long and rise to £70 for Ford Transit sized vans. Bigger vans and trailers will be barred from entering the tips.
The single use permits must be purchased from council offices before waste is taken to the tips and the cost and effort involved have raised concerns it could lead to an increase in fly-tipping.
The petition was launched by Stephanie Phipps Channing, from Bedwas, who runs a household goods recycling business which collects items that can be reused for free.
Ms Phipps Channing said: “From a business point of view it might work in my favour but from a personal view I’m absolutely opposed to it.
“I ride horses and to see someone’s front room on the mountain is ridiculous as it is.
“On the mountain in Machen you are bound to see fly-tipped rubbish and that’s only going to get worse by charging for disposing of household waste.
“Tipping is morally wrong but the council get enough money off us as it is.”
Penpedairheol resident Nigel Davies, who has signed the petition, said: “The move to charge residents to dispose of household waste will only escalate the amount of fly-tipping in our countryside.
“Ultimately this will lead to an increase in cost to taxpayers.”
A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately our recycling centres have been misused by commercial operators in the past, so these new charges will help deter this type of activity and ensure the facilities receive domestic waste only.
“It is important to note that 95% of users will be unaffected by the charges and residents are welcome to bring household waste as normal in their own cars.”
The council also said they take fly tipping very seriously and check waste in an attempt to trace it back to the person who dumped it, with fines reaching a maximum of £5,000.
A Fochriw resident was fined £450 after pleading guilty to fly-tipping at Newport Magistrates’ Court on June 13.
Arkadiusz Aulejtner of Hillside was also ordered to pay £448.93 costs and a £45 victim surcharge
The changes come as Caerphilly County Borough Council thanked volunteers who collected 47 tonnes of rubbish as part of their Big Spring Clean campaign.
Cllr David Poole, Cabinet Member for Community and Leisure Services said: “This year’s campaign has helped to improve areas that are off the beaten track as well as a number of areas that have been highlighted by local residents.
“To date we have amassed almost 50 tonnes of waste and litter which have been gathered up for disposal or recycling.”
Every time a person with a van wants to responsibility dispose of their rubbish it will cost them at least £35, surely this is only going to encourage even more fly tipping, it’s bad enough already without adding to the problem – are the nuisance scrap metal street dealers being charged £70 a day for a permit to carry waste goods?
I would like to see some of the stuff dumped at these sites salvaged. I know the staff there sometimes retrieve some of the better stuff. However I’ve stood there and watched some people throw things in that another person could use else where. I remember watching a TV program which showed an English local authority that would ask people if the stuff they were throwing away was still usable. If it was they would put it in a viewing area for other members of the public to go view and decide if they like it and then have for free. You name it from ornaments to clothes!
If I’ve got something to throw away and it still usable it goes in the charity shop or on freecycle or freegal. Some people cant be bothered and will just dump stuff that can otherwise be used elsewhere. Instead of policies that levy charges on people lets get some savvy thinking in place.