Country is one of the dirtiest

As an owner of farm sites in Sussex and Kent, I can recall almost the exact date that charges for commercial rubbish were introduced, that being due to the fact that builders rubbish started being dumped on our land and at the entrances.

This has continued and is a regular and costly occurrence.

Sadly, this has encouraged a culture where people perceive that dumping rubbish on public land is ‘normal’.

I travel extensively in Europe and am saddened to observe that the UK has become one of the dirtiest litter-strewn countries of the EU. In France, for example, it is rare to find any rubbish in public places, where rates are low, and charges at tips are equally low for commercial waste and private owners are allowed to take trailer loads to the tip, free of cost.

By re-classifying domestic building materials and tyres as commercial waste – which is likely to be the thin end of a wedge – you can be sure that this material will also be dumped freely all over the county in any discrete open space, in addition to commercial rubbish that we endure today.

Of course it is usually the landowner who has to pay and the council can even enforce such action; they do have to pay for removal of fly tipping on public land that they are responsible for – to the tune of £180,000 last year.

This will increase dramatically after these new charges will be introduced, and I wonder what actual net cash benefit there will be? They MUST think again.

The law of unintended consequences seems to be a growing trend with government authorities, desperate for yet more and more cash from us.