FLY-TIPPING was again high on the agenda at the Bury East Township Forum as residents called for greater punishments for the culprits and better enforcement.

Speaking alongside the Bury Council’s Steve Kenyon, council leader, Cllr Rishi Shori highlighted the “significant impact” that another £32 million in cuts over the next three years will have on the community.

Waste disposal currently takes up £12.5 million of the council’s budget with refuse collection at £4 million but the projected cuts mean that no more funds with be added to those figures.

Residents at the meeting highlighted that the fly-tipping issue is only getting worse and until drastic changes are made, the problem will only increase.

James Hill of Pimhole Residents Association called for higher fines for fly-tippers who he said have nothing to fear as they know that no serious action is usually taken against them.

“The £1000 that it costs the rate payers to take these people to court just for them to pay a small £20 fine is wrong,” he said.

“They should be the ones paying for it all and maybe they would think twice about doing it. People have no pride in this area and it is a disgrace.

“There is nothing to stop them dumping the rubbish for just a £20 fine. The money should be coming back to the borough.”

Cllr Mike Connolly of East Ward agreed that more action needed to be taken, but simply fining someone more harshly wasn’t the answer.

“You can’t just slap a £1000 fine on someone who cannot afford to pay it and they just end up in prison,” he said. “It’s got to be about education and enforcement.”

Cllr Shori agreed but suggested that enforcement was actually the main problem with fly-tipping.

“The more the council collects the rubbish, the more people tip,” he said. “It’s just a never ending cycle and it is very hard to police.”

He added that overall costings to remove the waste are being increased even more as materials such as asbestos are being dumped along with everything else.

Mr Kenyon pleaded for people to recycle now more than ever with the forecasted cuts, and to reduce the strain on the council’s waste management budget.

“The bottom line is our budget streams are on a downward trend,” he said. “I am pleading, more so than, ever for people to think more strongly about waste management and recycling.”

Another worried resident highlighted the rat and vermin problems that fly-tipping brings.

“There are already rats on the back streets now. Two or three months from now when it’s warmer, they will be infested.”

To view the budget proposals, go to Bury.gov.uk/budget201720.

The consultation closes on Tuesday, January 31.