Flytipping in Selby

Access Selby's enforcement and legal support teams, working on behalf of Selby District Council, have brought a number of prosecutions this week, as part of the authority's work to protect residents and uphold the law.

All the cases were held at Selby Magistrates Court on Tuesday 14th August.

Miss Lisa Archer, 29 years old, of 23A Wood Lea, Byram, was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £760 in a case of fly tipping. Archer had been having a patio built and the top soil from her garden had been dumped on land at Wood Lea garages. The top soil had been reported to Selby District Council and Access Selby's enforcement team investigated.

Selby District Council has a zero tolerance approach to fly tipping as dumping waste illegally can cause significant problems for local communities. Every case reported to the Council is investigated, and the case will be taken further where the offence can be proven. In the last twelve months Access Selby's enforcement team has investigated 440 cases of fly tipping on behalf of the Council.

A number of prosecutions have also been brought this week in a continuing effort to protect against late-night antisocial behaviour. Seventeen more people were prosecuted for urinating in the street, all of whom received fines of either £100 or £140.

The Council continues to work alongside the Police to clamp down on this issue, in direct response to concerns raised by residents and businesses. Although a number were prosecuted this time, the number of offences is decreasing overall indicating that the sustained focus on the issue is acting as a deterrent and helping to minimise the problem.

The latest prosecutions take the total number to over 100 since the new bylaw was introduced by the Council, which enables the cases to go to court.

Access Selby Enforcement Officer, Tim Grogan, said,

"It gives me no pleasure to witness a century of convicted urinators but this proves that residents' demands to introduce a bylaw have been fully vindicated. There was a problem, it was identified and measures were introduced to deal with it. From an initial average of 15 a week the figure is now down to one.

"The Magistrates also deserve enormous credit for their supportiveness and other districts of the county contact me regularly to tell me of their envy and surprise that this filthy and despicable habit is treated so seriously in Selby."

Meanwhile a prosecution has been brought against Tommy Cawley, 42 years old, of 8b Byram Park Road, Byram, for failing to clear up after his dog on a footpath at Coach Road, Byram. In his absence from court Cawley was fined £100 as well as having to pay £140 costs and a £15 surcharge. The issue was brought to court because Cawley had not initially paid a fixed penalty notice. The case was followed up because residents have said consistently that they are concerned about dog fouling.

In a final case heard at Selby Magistrates Court on Tuesday 14th August, Nick Ludwell, 40 years old, of 4 Garrick Close, Baffam Lane, Brayton and Darren Powell, 45 years old, of 14 Armoury Road, Selby faced costs of £710 after felling trees that were protected by a Tree Protection Order (TPO). TPOs are in place to protect the character and wildlife of some areas. The trees were felled at Garrick Close at the beginning of June.