A local council has rejected calls to scrap its rubbish tip's booking system after the area saw the biggest rise in fly-tipping in Wales. A Welsh Government report last month found Newport saw a whopping 87% increase in fly-tipping incidents from April 2021 to March 2022 compared to the same period the previous year - the biggest rise of any area in Wales.
Newport also saw more reports of fly-tipping than any other council area in the past year, with 7,621 reports in 2021/22 up from 4,060 the previous year. All other areas of Gwent saw a fall in the number of reports, with Caerphilly recording 1,980 incidents. The only other Welsh council which recorded more than 7,000 incidents was Cardiff, which saw 7,494 incidents in 2021/22.
In its report of the figures, which were recorded by local authorities, Welsh Government said the increases in Newport had been "partly due to restricted access to household waste recycling centres, multiple load figures and improved reporting mechanisms." Newport City Council introduced a booking system at its household recycling centre during the Covid pandemic in 2020, a decision which was met with a mixed response. While some welcomed the system, others have cited issues with lack of availability or technical issues preventing them from booking an appointment.
