Bradford Council will use a drone in its fight to stop fly tipping in areas like Ilkley Moor.
Councillors have been told the aerial tech will be flown over areas that Council officers would normally struggle to access, from remote green spaces to private gardens, and it will be deployed “wherever it is needed.”
Members of the Council’s Environmental Services were giving an update on what was being done to tackle fly tipping at a meeting of the Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday evening.
Members were told that CCTV cameras hidden in hot spot areas are often used to catch fly tippers in the act, but the authority was now looking to the skies to tackle the problem.
Amjad Ishaq, environmental services manager, said:
“We received the delivery of our first drone today. Many other Councils are using drones in their fight against fly tipping.
“The drone will give us access to sites where illegal activity is going on. It could be fly tipping in a field in the middle of nowhere, it could be in someone’s garden. It will be useful to find fly tipping on sites we can’t see.”
Some Council staff were currently being trained to use the drone.
Councillor Chris Herd (Cons, Worth Valley) asked:
“Is the drone going to be used in the rural wards? Or is it more to use in the city?”
Mr Ishaq said:
“It will be used wherever we need to use it.”
Dave Dunbar, Environmental Health Manager, added:
“We’ll deploy our resources where needed.”
Referring to the use of CCTV to tackle the problem, a report to the committee said: 'A total of 175 fixed CCTV cameras have now been deployed at 108 locations across 18 Wards, and a considerable number of fly-tipping incidents have been captured on camera resulting in enforcement action being taken, more cases are currently under investigation.
'The more extensive use of CCTV has resulted in an increase in the numbers of fly-tipping and littering fixed penalty notices being issued and contributed to several vehicles being seized.'
Bowling and Barkerend has the highest number of fly tipping CCTV cameras, with 33 located across the ward.
This is followed by City ward with 31 cameras and Great Horton with 20.
The report adds: 'The sites (of the CCTV) have been strategically chosen based on key factors, including the volume of public complaints, the involvement of vehicles in offences, and their designation as high-priority areas such as gateways, streets, and roads with numerous fast-food takeaways.'
When asked for the exact locations of the cameras, members said they were unable to reveal that information.
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