A man who hired an unnamed - and unlicensed - person to take away beds, sofas and other rubbish has been fined after it was found dumped in woodland behind his house. The waste was found fly-tipped by Rochdale council at the rear of Cedar Avenue, Heywood, and included letters to the address for Terence Edhouse, 32, who lived on Cedar Avenue.
The rubbish was discovered in October 2019 and he later admitted under caution that he employed an unnamed person to remove the waste for him. He also admitted that he had not taken any background checks to see if the person he had hired was licenced to by the Environment Agency and he did not obtain a receipt for proof after paying with cash.
Edhouse then failed to attend a court hearing on April 9 last year resulting in him being arrested on September 10 of this year and appearing at Salford and Manchester Magistrates Court two days later. He pleaded guilty to one offence contrary to Section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act (1990) and was fined £225 and ordered to pay £270 costs.
More recently, on September 22, a Bury man was given a conditional discharge for another fly-tipping offence in Heywood. Carl Langton, 37, of Grassington Drive, Heap Bridge, was caught on CCTV in April 2019 dumping rubbish on Smethurst Street.
Langton admitted being the person seen on CCTV dumping the rubbish and was offered a fixed penalty notice which he failed to pay, leading to his prosecution. At court he pleaded guilty to the offence of fly-tipping and was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge.
Councillor Liam O’Rourke, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said: “Fly-tipping, no matter how small, is inexcusable. Once again, we have seen a case here where residents have not done their checks when booking a waste carrier. If evidence is found linking you to fly-tipped waste, no matter who has discarded it, you will be fined, simple as that.
"We continue to work hard to stamp out fly-tipping, even when sanctions handed down by the courts, including fines, do not always reflect the crime. Our enforcement officers can charge offenders by serving formal cautions and on-the-spot Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) when evidence is found. Let's stop this illegal activity in our borough.”
Rochdale residents can check details of a waste carrier's licence or report fly-tipping at rochdale.gov.uk/flytipping or by calling 0300 303 8884. Large bulky items can also be removed from your home for free. Collections can be booked at rochdale.gov.uk/bulkywaste.
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