Council: Onus on private landowners to remove fly-tipping

This comes after one Winwick resident called for more action to be taken to clean up Winwick, which is regularly targeted by fly-tippers.

Areas of the village highlighted by the resident included land near B&Q and land owned by Highways England and Network Rail, with the resident asking for pressure to be put on landowners by the council to clear rubbish.

In response, the council says that it will work with owners of private land to find evidence of those responsible and bring them to justice.

A spokesman said: “Waste dumped on private land is for the landowner to remove, even if it has been dumped illegally.

“If the landowner identifies evidence that would assist us in taking action, we will investigate.

“We are liaising with local landowners in the area to identify any evidence and ask them to clear their land as soon as possible.

Old tyres and a trolley dumped on land near B&Q in Winwick

“Criminal action can and will follow where evidence is found of those responsible for dumping waste. That might be from eyewitnesses, from CCTV or from within the waste itself.

“We are sympathetic to local landowners who suffer from the blight of fly-tipping and then additionally have the financial burden of removal of that waste.

“Equally, we recognise that fly-tipping is ugly and that residents are keen to ensure it is removed quickly and that those responsible prosecuted.

“It is key that anyone who witnesses fly-tipping contacts us with as much information as possible so we can investigate and take action.

“There is no excuse as our recycling centres are open and general waste collection services are operating as normal, but it is recognised with people staying at home, more household waste is being created.”

Residents can help to keep rubbish collection services running smoothly by collapsing packaging beforehand.

Issues can be reported to the council on 443322 or via warrington.gov.uk/report