2021
March
BBC Panorama focused on fly-tipping, and the prosecution of it, with a feature, called Rubbish Dump Britain. The production team were briefed by NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts and Hertfordshire county adviser Ros David, and filmed with NFU member George Williams from the Enville Estate in Staffordshire.
2020
December
Brand new cyber security advice
The Daily Mail, and ITV News have reported that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has worked with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to create its first online safety guidance for the farming sector, which includes advice on protecting farms against malware and dealing with scam messages and phone calls. The NCSC said the sector needed to take more action around security, as statistics show an increase in reports of cyber attacks against the farming community.
August
NFU Mutual rural crime report
NFU Deputy President Stuart Roberts and NFU Vice President Tom Bradshaw were both interviewed on Sky News to explain the impact of rural crime on farmers' mental wellbeing and finances.
July
Fly-tipping focus
Sky News focused on fly-tipping in a package featuring NFU member Andrew Ward and Lincolnshire county adviser Rhonda Thompson explaining the dangers of the rubbish to farmers and the general public.
The Guardian reported the rise of fly-tipping cases in recent weeks, with NFU environment forum chairman Phil Jarvis highlighting the serious problems for wildlife and water courses.
May
NFU member Olly Harrison featured on a BBC Countryfile feature on fly-tipping, highlighting the rubbish that has been dumped in the countryside. Watch from around 11 mins 30 secs.
March
NFU Deputy President was interviewed live on BBC’s Crimewatch Roadshow, discussing the problem of fly-tipping across the country, the different types of incidents, and the impact on farmers.
February
BBC Breakfast interviewed NFU member Edward Ford on his farm in Essex where he explained that fly-tipping impacts farmers’ ability to produce food and care for the environment.
Mr Ford also featured on 5 Live Breakfast where he said clearing up these loads can cost thousands of pounds.
There is also an article on BBC News here which explains that organised criminal gangs are often behind large scale fly-tipping and the NFU is quoted saying the situation is a nightmare for farmers.
Journalist Michael Crick has also investigated the blight of fly-tipping in a video for the Daily Mail+ and speaks to Essex member George Young who said the situation has got worse over recent years.
The NFU's work for members on fly-tipping
A staggering 1,072,000 fly-tipping incidents took place in England alone in 2019. Nearly two thirds (62%) of fly-tips involve household waste, but, more worryingly, the figures show that incidents involving ‘significant, (or) multi-loads’ of waste continue to rise.
Not only can fly-tipping be costly and time-consuming to remove, it can be dangerous to human health, wildlife and livestock, bespoil our treasured landscapes and, in some cases, pollute watercourses and contaminate land. When incidents of fly-tipping take place on private land, it’s also the landowner’s responsibility to remove the illegally dumped waste.
Case study: Edward Ford
Farmer Edward Ford (below) grows combinable crops on 1,600 acres in Brentwood, Essex, just a mile from the M25, where he is witnessing a stark increase in instances of fly-tipping.
“We’ve been dealing with fly-tipping for decades, but in the past four or so years it has gotten substantially worse and has become a lot more commercial,” he said.
“It used to just be a white van man doing up someone’s bathroom dumping his rubbish in a field, but now we’re getting articulated lorries with products that can’t be recycled.
“They take out all the wood, top soil, concrete – anything that can be used – and just dump tonnes of rubbish consisting of fibres and dust.”
As well as the cost of the clean-up, he’s also seeing his insurance premium increase, while dealing with these incidents takes up a considerable amount of his time and effort.
He added: “What we need is a joined-up approach to tackling this problem from the police, local councils and Environment Agency, because, at the moment, there is none. When we report an incident, we just get passed from one to the other – no-one wants to take any real responsibility.
“Operation Galileo has been really successful in tackling hare-coursing, and now we really need something similar for fly-tipping.”
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