More needs to be done to tackle fly tipping in Newtown, that’s according to county councillor Daniel Rowlands.

Cllr Rowlands, member for Newtown Llanllwchaiarn North, contacted the County Times this week after discovering a large amount of rubbish fly tipped at the council’s recycling site in Back Lane on Sunday, January 7.

“I was appalled this afternoon to find rubbish is still being dumped in Back Lane car park by people who are too lazy to follow the correct procedures,” he said.

“I went to recycle some clothes with my four-year-old daughter and six-year-old son today who couldn't understand why people throw their rubbish on the floor.

“It was difficult to explain to the kids in the car.

“Obviously we try and teach them never to drop rubbish anywhere but they see that and think ‘what’s going on?’

“The recycling units on Back Lane are extremely useful and a necessity for local people.

“I welcome the recent fines Powys County Council has issued to those fly tipping in our county but more needs to be done to tackle this problem.”

There were more than 1,000 reported incidents of fly tipping in Powys last year according to government statistics service StatsWales, and Cllr Rowlands has encouraged residents to report incidents such as this to help the council take action.

“I urge local people to report the problem to Powys County Council if they see it happening so that this behaviour can be eradicated and as a society we can bring our children up in a safe and clean environment,” he added.

“It’a very difficult for the council to police fly-tipping across all of its sites, obviously PCC covers a huge area and I imagine a lot of this is being done late at night.

“Obviously we don’t want to lose these valuable facilities so we need to look at ways of reducing the problem.

In the case of this site it’s a bit out of the way so perhaps it could be relocated to somewhere with a bit more natural surveillance.”

Latest statistics show reported fly tipping incidents are on the rise nationally, with Powys recording a slight increase in its figures in the last financial year from 1,019 to 1,027.

During 2016-17, 39,308 enforcement actions relating to fly tipping were taken in Wales, an increase on the 29,621 taken in 2015-16, around six per cent.

Of those where local authorities carried out prosecutions, 70 per cent resulted in a fine.

Previously, the number of incidents had consistently fallen from a peak of nearly 62,000 incidents in 2007-08 to around 31,700 in 2014-15.

Powys County Council Cabinet member Phyl Davies reacted to the fly tipping incident at Back Lane, Newtown, with the stark warning: “If it doesn’t stop, we’ll have to remove the recycling banks”.

Cllr Davies, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, expressed his disappointment at the incident and said the council would take enforcement action where it was deemed appropriate to anyone who was caught fly tipping at the area.

“It is extremely disappointing that taxpayers’ money will be used to clear the rubbish up from this site, especially when there is a household waste and recycling centre about a mile away that is open five days a week,” he said.

“Anyone who leaves rubbish at community recycling sites is committing the offence of fly-tipping. We will investigate incidents and carry out the appropriate enforcement action where necessary.

“If fly-tipping continues to happen at this site, we may have to consider removing the banks altogether.”

Cllr Davies said support was available to residents who needed to get rid of rubbish and extra recycling boxes would be made available to people who needed them in an effort to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

“If any of the recycling banks at the community recycling sites are full, we would ask residents to contact the council immediately so we can arrange for the containers to be emptied. Residents should also take their recycling back home with them and not leave it at the side of the banks.

“If any householder is struggling to reduce the amount of waste they put in their black wheeled bin, they can contact our waste awareness team who will be able to provide advice on how they can recycle more of their waste.”