Environmental Crime
Enviro-Crime
Graffiti, fly-tipping, dog fouling, litter, bags of rubbish and bins left out all make our streets look untidy and dirty. This sort of anti-social behaviour affects us all, but did you know this is a crime?
We can and DO, prosecute residents and businesses who commit environmental crimes (Enviro-Crimes). Our officers are working hard to tackle these problems and are on the streets every day to make sure that Enviro-Crime gets cleaned up quickly, and that we penalised the people responsible.
People of Pendle have said that strong enforcement is needed. Consequently we issue £75 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to anyone caught littering or leaving dog mess in public, and £100 FPNs for not recycling or leaving bins out on streets.
If the FPN is not paid, we report the person to the court, where a fine of up to £1000 can be issued. For more serious offences, like fly tipping, we take direct prosecution to the courts where the level of penalty can be up to £50,000 or even imprisonment for five years.
Other Enforcement Work
Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows us to serve a notice on the owners and occupiers of land, requiring the site to be tidied up if the condition of any land is in such state as to adversely affect the amenity of the neighbourhood.
Section 79 of the Public Health Act 1936 allows us to serve a notice where the owner of the land/property has accumulated noxious matter i.e. food waste, and this notice gives the owner 24 hours to remove the waste.
Failing to comply with Section 215 or 79 notice means that we can remove the waste and recover the expenses of any action taken.
Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990 allows us to specify how waste is presented for collection, i.e. require an occupier to place waste for collection in receptacles of a kind and number specified. This is used to enforce separation of waste for recycling, and also for containers left out.
