Communities can act together to stop flytipping in our countryside

Speaking ahead of a seminar to be held in Stirling Management Centre tomorrow, Guy Wedderburn, estate manager for Callendar estate in Falkirk, described flytipping as one of the issues that landowners had to face.

"It is better if you keep on top of the problem and clear out any areas where dumping takes place and it is better if you can form partnerships with local communities who take a pride in the areas in which they live," he said.

There had been one area on the 6,500 acre estate which was notorious for dumping but they had cleaned it up by taking two lorry loads of illegally dumped rubbish away, he continued. Since then, he said there had been no major problem in that area. He added that as proof of the second suggestion, the more Callendar opened up to the public, the less serious the problem of rubbish dumping had become, with local residents being willing to take part in clean up campaigns.

The main problems at Callendar and throughout Scotland are the dumping of tyres, household items and builders' waste. This illegal activity normally takes place in secluded parts of the country.

Wedderburn said that going around the estate one morning, he came across someone dropping off an old cooker out of their car.

When he stopped, the dumping was abandoned and the car drove off but the next day he found the old cooker had been dumped later.

Currently, flytipping costs land owners and local authorities around about 11 million annually to remove rubbish dumped illegally on their property.

Carole Noble of Zero Waste Scotland, who has put together the seminar, pointed out that was why the Scottish Fly Tipping Forum had produced a guidance document to support the enforcement authorities and those who have the responsibility of investigating flytipping incidents.

"Everyone can help combat flywtipping. If you spy anyone dumping waste I would urge you to call the Dumbdumpers hotline on 08452 30 40 90 or on www.dumbdumpers.org".