Wiltshire Council wins national award for anti-flytipping campaign
We're Targeting Flytippers (WTF) has been credited with cutting incidents
Wiltshire Council has won a national award for its efforts to reduce flytipping across the county.
They've scooped the Environmental Campaign of the Year Award at the Keep Britain Tidy Awards for their hard-hitting We’re Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) scheme.
That was launched in late 2022 with a £150,000 a year investment for three years - that funding has seen the council employ more officers and invest in more equipment such as covert cameras to both prevent and catch fly-tippers.
Cllr Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport and Street Scene, said:
“This is a fantastic result for Wiltshire and shows just how hard our teams are working to tackle fly-tipping in the county. I’d like to congratulate our officers for all their hard work in winning this prestigious national award.
“Our We’re Targeting Fly-tippers (WTF) campaign is both hard-hitting and eye-catching – and it has generated significant local and national media coverage. But most importantly it is getting results.
“The number of fly-tips in Wiltshire has been on a downward trend since we launched the campaign. There were 7.4 fly-tipping incidents per 100,000 residents in 2020/21, and that has fallen to 5.1 incidents per 100,000 residents in 2022/23.
“We’ve also seen a huge increase in the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and prosecutions for fly-tipping, with 25 FPNs issued and 11 successful prosecutions from April-September in 2023, compared to 5 FPNs and 2 prosecutions in the same period in 2022.
“But this is just the start – over the coming year, people will see more prosecutions for fly-tipping and a new phase of our WTF campaign, as we fulfil our Business Plan pledge to reduce fly-tipping in Wiltshire.
“Our message is clear – We’re Targeting Fly-tippers here in Wiltshire.”
Wiltshire Council was shortlisted alongside City of Doncaster Council and SWISCo Ltd – a Torbay Council Company.