Call for tougher penalties on north-east fly-tippers

Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has called for tougher penalties on those illegally dumping rubbish as almost 3200 incidents of fly-tipping were reported in the north-east in 2023 but only five fines were handed out.

Aberdeen City Council was called to clean-up 2272 instances of fly-tipping while Aberdeenshire dealt with 898.

In the city, no fines have been issued despite the high number of reports while just five were issued in Aberdeenshire.

The most prevalent area in Aberdeenshire for fly-tipping was Buchan, which includes places such as Peterhead, Cruden Bay, Mintlaw and Longside.

A total of 201 incidents were reported but only three people were caught. The two other fines which were issued were handed out to people in Banff and Buchan and Marr.

Aberdeenshire Council said it spent almost £3 million in “street cleansing costs” in 2022/23 as a result of such incidents.

Mr Duguid has supported a bill from his party colleague MSP Murdo Fraser which seeks to increase sanctions for fly-tipping.

These include lifting the current fixed-penalty notice of £200, improving data collection of incidents and ensuring the person whose land the waste is disposed on is not responsible for its removal.

Mr Duguid said: “These figures show we are seeing a tsunami of appalling fly-tipping incidents across the north-east which are going unpunished.

“Fly-tipping is a scourge on our beautiful landscape which is being blighted by these selfish and irresponsible instances of dumping.

“The illegal offloading of materials such as plastics and other waste can end up in watercourses and clog drains.

“It is the public, landowners and our local authorities such as Aberdeenshire Council who are left to pick up the pieces from these individuals who think it’s acceptable to tarnish our environment.

“That is exactly why I support my party’s bill to change the law in Scotland so that tougher punishments are put in place to crack down on fly-tipping.”