Bolton Council cabinet member hails authority's record on fly-tipping

Recent figures showed that the borough had the lowest number of fly-tipping reports out of everywhere in Greater Manchester from the start of 2020 to the end of 2022 (2,434).

The statistic was much less than the highest borough Manchester, which recorded 28,890 incidents.

At a full council meeting last week, cabinet member for environmental service delivery, Cllr Nadim Muslim, said: “Our dedicated team work very hard to combat this issue.

“It is through this approach I am happy to inform council that we have seen a reduction in fly-tipping incidents in the borough over the last 12 month period.

“Between 2020 and 2021 to 2021 to 2022 the number of fly-tips dropped from 1,250 to 1,084.

“I will put on record as well by thanks to the litter pickers and volunteers across the borough who dedicate so much time to help the council and support their communities in picking up litter.

“A recently published report from the Department for Environment Support and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has proven that under this Conservative administration Bolton has the lowest level of fly tipping in the whole of Greater Manchester.

“Between 2020 and 2022 Bolton had a total reported case of 2,434.

“Compare that to neighbouring Bury at 6,037 cases, more than double the cases of Bolton, Oldham Council (7,475 cases) and Manchester- a staggering 28,890 cases of fly tipping.”

Here is how each GM borough ranks in terms of total fly-tipping incidents between the start of 2020 and the end of 2022 and an individual breakdown of data:

Manchester – 28,890

Rochdale – 11,583

Salford – 11,190

Tameside – 9,165

Oldham – 7,475

Stockport – 7,153

Bury – 6,631

Trafford – 6,037

Wigan – 3,071

Bolton – 2,434

DEFRA data estimates it costs on average between £1,000 and £10,000 for large scale incidents of fly-tipping to be cleaned up.

Most councils use fines as enforcement action and have taken people to court over the matter.