New legislation spearheaded by a Perthshire politician to impose tougher penalties on fly-tipping offenders is gathering support.
The consultation period for the Members’ Bill in the Scottish Parliament has ended and received 190 responses with “a large percentage” backing the proposal.
Scottish Land and Estates was among those to submit a consultation response in support and called the Bill “welcome and long overdue”.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser’s proposals include introducing a national database to better record fly-tipping incidents, as well as strict liability for those who dump waste in other local authority areas.
Mr Fraser also wants to change legal liability so that victims of fly-tipping are not also legally responsible for removing the waste.
Over the past number of years residents across the region have suffered from fly-tipping offenders and dirty campers, especially at beauty spots in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
Scottish Conservative MSP Mr Fraser said: “I very much welcome the support from Scottish Land and Estates.
“It was good to hear that they back many of the proposals in my Members’ Bill on fly-tipping.
“The consultation period process for the Bill has now closed but I was delighted to receive 190 responses, with a large percentage of these very favourable.
“I believe this Bill is essential as a means to update current legislation and punishments in relation to fly-tipping which date back over three decades.
“This proposed law is not overtly political or partisan, but instead it is about taking a stand against those who believe this behaviour is acceptable.
“I hope it will receive cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament.”
Policy adviser (access and visitor management) at Scottish Land and Estates Simon Ovenden said: “Fly-tipping is a national shame which became significantly worse during the pandemic.
“It will take a collective effort to tackle this blight and the proposals set out by Murdo Fraser MSP would go some way to providing the tools needed to deal with fly-tipping offenders as well as providing support for those who find waste – often dangerous and hazardous – dumped on their land.
“We fully support efforts to create a national database to monitor and record fly-tipping incidents so that it can be used as a tool that will aid detection and support the prosecutions of offenders.
“Where fly-tipping has occurred across local authority boundaries, there needs to be a method of collaborative working developed which currently does not exist. Presently, if fly-tipped material is proven to have been taken from one local authority area and tipped in another, neither authority is likely to investigate and consequently no scrutiny or prosecution takes place – this needs to change and superior reporting systems can help.”
Simon continued: “Ensuring victims of fly-tipping are not legally liable would also be a long overdue change to the law.
“This is possibly the only crime in Scotland where the victim, in this case the landowner, can be held financially responsible and threatened with prosecution for having a crime committed against them.
“This appears to now be an established process across Scotland where the victim is made to pay, and not the offender or the local body responsible for such waste.
“We’re pleased that Mr Fraser proposes to address this injustice with local authorities permitted to remove waste from private land and, where possible, recoup costs from the offender and generator of the waste.”
