Environmental Crime

New powers to clean neighbourhoods and deal with environmental crime

New powers for the Council to deal with a plethora of environmental crimes came into force on 6 April 2006.

Measures under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environmental Act 2005 cover everything from noisy burglar alarms to abandoned trolleys and the perennial problem of litter.

The vast majority of measures under the Act are now in force - other measures to combat issues such as fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles were introduced last year.

Powers that came into force on 6 April 2006, unless otherwise stated:

Litter:

• On the spot fines for littering raised to maximum of £75
• (June 05) cigarette butts and chewing gum formally defined as litter
• (June 05) makes it an offence to drop litter anywhere, including private land, rivers, ponds and lakes
• restrictions on the distribution of flyers, pamphlets and hand-outs
• require fast food outlets, stalls and mobile food vans to clear litter from their land
• require other businesses and individuals to clear litter from their land which may be attracting more litter (eg unused garage areas and industrial plots)

Graffitti:

• on the spot fines raised to a maximum of £75
• defacement removal notices extended to ensure that street furniture is cleaned within 28 days by the owners

Fly-posting:

• on the spot fines raised to a maximum of £75 for those caught fly-posting
• fines and clean-up charges can be issued to the beneficiary of the poster

Noise:

• local authority can enter premises to silence an alarm that has been ringing for over 20 minutes (without force)
• powers to require people who have burglar alarms to have alternative key-holders and tell the Council who they are, reducing the blight of false alarms

Dogs:

• dog byelaws replaced with dog control orders which enable local authorities and parish councils to deal with:
  1. fouling by dogs
  2. ban dogs from designated areas
  3. require dogs to be kept on a lead
  4. restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person (on the spot fine available for these offences to a maximum of £80)

Waste (including fly-tipping)

• on the spot fines (up to £100) for those who leave domestic waste out at the wrong times
• fines for businesses (eg 'white van men') of £300 who are not registered to carry waste
• fines for businesses of £300 if they fail to produce required waste duty of care documentation
• powers to order landowners to clear fly-tipped waste from their land if they knowingly caused or permitted the fly-tipping

Related Websites

DEFRA - Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act