Rural areas around Colchester have suffered significant amounts of fly-tipped refuse and waste, which is dumped illegally and is spoiling the environment.
Although fly-tipping in Colchester has declined in the past year, outlying areas have remained hotspots for such activity, and is something that both the Police and the Council are working hard to tackle and enforce.
Residents are encouraged to be vigilant and inform the Council of any fly-tipping in their area, or to report any suspicion of fly-tipping activity.
We are now also asking for members of the public to take details of any vehicles, particularly tipper and flatbed lorries, carrying waste and to report them immediately to the council on the number below, please include the type of waste being carried, time, day, date, registration and ideally any person(s) seen at the time.
Although the act of fly-tipping may not be witnessed, the Council is still able to investigate any reports of vehicles carrying waste, ascertaining if the owners have the correct and legal paperwork in place to do this.
Any person identified carrying waste illegally may be issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice or prosecuted which carries a maximum fine on conviction of £5000.
Dumping waste where it is not allowed, or allowing others to do so, is a criminal offence. You could face a very large fine or even be sent to prison if you fly-tip waste on land that does not have a license to receive it. It not only drains resources provided by the council in order to clean it up but has been responsible for several near misses with vehicles nearly ending up in ditches on the dark back roads trying to avoid it.
If you are hiring someone to dispose of waste on your behalf, check that the company or person you give waste to have a license to carry it – if the waste is dumped illegally, you could still be liable for prosecution. Protect your environment and help us to take action.
From Shane Taylor Colchester Borough Council Street Services, “Colchester Borough Council will not tolerate this eyesore. I strongly encourage residents to find out how to dispose of your waste correctly, as well as help us take action on fly-tippers by being vigilant and reporting any incidences of fly-tipping in your community.”
Local Police Officers will be looking for potential carriers and suspicions of fly-tipping activity, but it is hoped that through residents’ reports and noted activity, the Council and the Police can develop an intelligence system to spot potential patterns in fly-tipping activity in the Borough.
To report any incidences of fly-tipping in your community, contact (01206) 282700 or email [email protected].
To contact Pc Mel Wilson – 07966 197 404
38 members and 10 visitors attended our meeting in February when we welcomed back 
The Peldon Village Hall Management Committee have recently been awarded a further £15,000 of grant funding towards the new Village Hall project. To find out more about the hall, the renewal project and to see the designs of the proposed new building (thumbnails on right) check out 
Birch and Layer
Essex Watch
40 members and a number of visitors attended our meeting in January when June Crisfield Chapman came along to talk to us about “Wild Plants, Myths, Magic and Medicines.” June is actually an Artist/Painter, who through her love of nature which started at an early age in Scotland where she was bought up, has created an extensive range of wood engravings which she has exhibited at the National Theatre amongst other galleries. She also wrote for the Countryman magazine for 11 years. She showed us a slide show of numerous engravings of flowers and flora and explained where some of the myths had started. It was a most interesting evening.
Nearly 40 of us attended our Christmas Dinner at the 