Regular readers of this page will know how much of a problem flytipping is in the Saughall & Mollington Ward. The Labour administration of the council are making changes to the Household Waste and Recycling Centre Service (local 'tips').
Cllr Simon Eardley spoke at the Cabinet meeting which discussed the matter this morning and his remarks are repeated below (more or less - the odd word may vary here and there). You'll read that he raised two recent serious incidents of flytipping in the ward - one just yesterday in Chorlton-by-Backford. The changes will see the introduction of some charges later this year for depositing DIY waste over a certain free allowance. Cllr Eardley is concerned this will see a further increase in flytipping which is already out of control in the borough.
Copy of remarks made in Ellesmere Port, 11th June 2025:
"Firstly, I’d place on record my appreciation to officers for their diligence in briefings and answering questions. A lot of time at Places Scrutiny was spent on this.
There are elements of this report I can welcome, such as the modernisation of processes at the sites and the desire to increase repair and reuse opportunities. But I must raise some questions.
I am sympathetic to the viewpoint that it’s unreasonable for the council to bear the cost of households undertaking major building works and expecting us to take their DIY waste free of charge at our HWRC sites. Large scale waste of this nature should be dealt with by other means, such as private skip hire.
On the question of the fee to be introduced.
The Cabinet member will recall the Conservative opposition prevented the administration's wholesale desire to implement charges for DIY waste some time ago.
It has come back round.
I’ve some sympathy for the seemingly modest charge of £3.70 per bag in excess of the free allowance. But paragraph 7.2 of the report contains the ominous words: ‘The charge will be reviewed annually.’
We all know what that means. It will be the same as the green bin charge – an annual increase as standard.
Will she give an assurance that that won’t be the default position?
I am informed a lot of time and effort has gone into researching this figure and arriving at it. I’ve queried it in the scrutiny process. If we are confident now that it is right, please confirm it won’t automatically rise annually.
I’d like to turn to flytipping.
I’m afraid I can’t agree with the arguably complacent language on page 462 of the report where it states, in response to feedback, that a ‘flytipping action plan’…will ‘mitigate the small but manageable risk of flytipping occurring because of the proposed changes.’
The truth is that flytipping is out of control in the borough.
I warned the Cabinet Member that the direction of travel around the statistics last July pointed in that direction.
This warning was ignored then and the latest figures bear it out.
Indeed, in other reports before Cabinet today around performance, the judgement against flytipping says ‘low is good.’ The latest statistics show that the administration is delivery anything but low and it certainly isn’t good.
Reported incidents are up.
The costs for clearing are up.
The costs of taking action are up.
All massively so. A major burden on the taxpayer.
I see it in my ward every week – just yesterday there was a massive dump of waste on Chorlton Lane, Chorlton-by-Backford. In the last week there’s been two massive dumps of green waste on Lodge Lane in Saughall. Of course I condemn totally those who commit these crimes, but we need to do much better.
We aren’t getting this right – something needs to happen to put it right.
I have real concerns the changes proposed before Cabinet will make the situation worse still."
