50+ fly-tipping hot spots in Haringey

I was fed up with the constant fly-tipping on my road, which despite reporting to Veolia on numerous occasions, continues on a near weekly basis. Nothing seemed to have been done about it, so I contacted Veolia recently to ask them what strategies they employ to combat persistent fly-tipping in Haringey and how they work with the local authorities to reduce fly-tipping. I got the following response from them.

"Veolia is  working in partnership with Haringey Council to clear all fly-tips which are found and/or reported to improve the impact that these occurrences have on the street scene. Through this partnership, we are aiming to provide measures to reduce the amount of reported fly-tips with the overall aim of preventing rubbish from being dumped illegally within the borough. 

The Haringey Veolia Partnership have identified 50 fly-tipping hot spot locations and working together we are visiting one a week to engage with local residents to ensure they are aware of how to report fly tipping and how to dispose of bulky items. 

In respect of this, Haringey Council are responsible for all  Enforcement activities in relation to fly-tipping." 

I was intrigued by the “50 fly-tipping hot spot locations” and also astounded to learn they visit only one a week(!). I probed further but came up against a brick wall with Veolia informing me that Haringey Council would not let them disclose the list of top fly-tipping spots. They said I had to put in a freedom of information request. After waiting patiently for a few weeks they sent me the following list of locations (also attached). I don't think this is available online, so here it is (spelling mistakes are Haringey's, not mine!):

I am sure there are many more locations across Haringey that could be added to this list. 

I also asked what measures they had in place to reduce fly-tipping. They said they were implementing the following:

• Free collection for almost all types of bulky household waste
• Two Reuse and Recycling centres provided for free disposal of almost every type of waste
• Fly-tip hotspot programme – visits to all properties in a 50 metre radius of over 50 fly-tip hotspots to educate and advise residents about how to dispose of their waste properly, followed by three weeks of enforcement and investigation visits to check for fly-tips, investigate for evidence of origin if fly-tips are found, and take enforcement action where possible.
• Visits to all businesses to check for legally required Duty of Care documents to prove that proper waste collection contracts are in place
• Waste leave downs on main roads – we deliberately don’t collect waste on a particular day so we can search through waste left for collection to look for evidence of fly-tipped waste
• Multi-channelled reporting for fly-tips so residents can tell us where fly-tips need to be picked up, fast collection to avoid fly-tips encouraging more fly-tipping.
• Twice per day picks up from locations with flats above shops to avoid waste on streets for too long
• Problem solving at sites where off-street storage capacity for waste and/or wheelie bins is limited or not available so that where practicable residents have a viable alternative to leaving waste on pavements.  
• Bespoke waste storage and collections solutions at sites with specific waste storage difficulties.
• Comments provided on Planning Applications to ensure that waste arising from new, extended or refurbished property is adequately provided for.

Veolia’s performance for effectiveness of fly-tip strategy is measured through a Strategic Performance Indicator based on the number of fly-tip reports by residents. The table below sets out the targets for Year 1 to Year 4 of the contract showing how the number reported by residents should fall over time based on prevention by encouraging people to dispose of waste properly and also on fast collection of fly-tipping so residents do not need to report them. Haringey are saying they have met this target each year included the third year.

I'm not convinced this is the most effective measure of performance because it may just be an indication that people are not bothering to report fly-tipping rather there being less fly-tipping to report. In my personal experience fly-tipping hasn't reduced where I live and I'm sure others would agree.

Number of financial penalties/prosecutions below:

It would be interesting to see how these figures compare with other London boroughs.