DEBATE over the link between fly tipping and tip closures has continued this week, with Council officers giving differing views to politicians.
Since the then Labour run Bradford Council voted to close three of the District’s tips in 2024, there have been claims from some Councillors that fly tipping has increased dramatically.
And in his first Leader’s speech since he was voted in in May, Council Leader Stephen Place said tipping had “risen exponentially” because of Labour’s decisions to close the tips.
But Council officers that deal with fly tipping on a day-to-day basis don’t share the same view, and this week two Council meetings have heard that fly tipping has remained steady – or even reduced, in recent years.
Officers say much of the District’s fly tipping is down to rogue waste traders – who would not be able to use household waste tips – rather than frustrated residents.
Three household waste recycling centres were closed by Bradford Council in 2024 – Sugden End near Keighley, Golden Butts in Ilkley and Ford Hill in Queensbury.
There was a huge outcry over the plans, with many claiming the closures would make Bradford’s fly tipping problem much worse.
On Tuesday, Bradford Council’s Executive voted to re-open Sugden End.
At the meeting claims that fly tipping had increased since the tip closures were repeated.
But Councillor Susan Fricker (Lab, Bingley) pointed out that in November officers told the Council’s Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee that fly tipping in Bradford was “broadly in line with national trends.”
She said:
“They said there was no evidence from officers that the closure of HWRS were related to any reports of increased fly tipping.”
She asked if this was still the view of the Council’s waste teams.
Officers at the meeting said the waste that is fly tipped in Bradford tends to be commercial waste, adding: “In most cases it isn’t residents doing it.”
They said while there was a “huge increase” in fly tipping reports, the amount of waste actually being fly tipped had “stagnated or even come down a bit.”
Councillor Ian Walker Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Communities, said the re-opening of Sugden End was not purely to stop fly tipping, but to provide an important service to residents.
The link between fly tipping and tip closures was raised again just a day later, at a meeting of the Council’s Shipley Area Committee.
The committee were being given an update on the work of the Council’s Street Cleansing service in the Constituency, when officers were asked about fly tipping.
Councillor Falak Ahmed (Cons, Bingley East) pointed out that reports of fly tipping had risen dramatically in her ward in the past three years.
She referred to the claims at Tuesday’s Executive meeting that there was no evidence the tip closures had led to an increase in fly tipping.
Cllr Ahmed asked officers:
“Is there any evidence to support this connection?”
Catherine Smith, Street Cleansing and Parks Service Manager, said while the number of reports of fly tipping had increased in some areas since the tip closures – the amount of waste dumped by tonnage had either remained steady or, in some cases, fallen compared to before the tips were closed.
She said:
“The fly tipping reports from the District show that the tonnage collected has either remained the same or gone down.
“Because the tonnages have gone down, we can’t say there is a link between fly tipping reports and the closure of tips.”
She explained the data showing fly tipping reports often contained duplicate reports.
Members were told that in one recent instance, a study of 14 fly tip reports found that seven of these related to a single incident.
Mrs Smith said:
“There is no evidence that the tonnages of fly tipping increased because of the HWRC closures.
“A lot of the fly tipping incidents are large scale – the types of waste being dumped is the waste that wouldn’t be dumped in the tips that were closed. It would be taken to the Keighley waste transfer station and Bowling Back Lane waste transfer station.
“A lot of the waste we see fly tipped would need to go to these sites, which are open, rather than the tips that are closed.”
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