Revealed: fly-tipping hotspots across Birmingham

Fly-tipping is blighting streets across Birmingham - with some neighbourhoods affected worse than others.

People across the are unanimous in condemning the selfish actions of these environmental criminals who dump bags of waste, mattresses, fridges and the like near homes.

Penalties are set by central government and currently include fines of up to £50,000 along with imprisonment - with new measures being looked at, including extra checks on who is able to handle and dispose of waste, as well as a digital tracking system.

Fly-tippers cost the government around £1bn a year in clean-up costs and lost taxes.

Four fly-tippers were jailed last year, including one in Birmingham.

How bad is the fly-tipping situation in Birmingham?

Since January 2020 there have been 65,877 incidents of fly-tipping recorded in the city.

In one instance, near the Jewellery Quarter, a 30ft mountain of waste has been piled onto private land.

Other worst hit areas include Sparkbrook and Balsall Heath, Alum Rock, Small Heath and Bordesley Green.

Neighbourhoods with the least cases of fly-tipping include Sutton Coldfield, Edgbaston, Northfield and Kings Norton.

Latest figures from Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) show there has been an increase of 4.54% in flytipping cases in Birmingham, with a rate of 19.9 per cent of incidents per 1,000 people.

This is marginally lower than the national average, which stands at 20.1 per cent per 1,000 people.

In comparison, the rate in Manchester is currently 26.8 per cent.

What has Birmingham City Council said about fly-tipping?

Birmingham City Council said:  "We will investigate dumped rubbish and may serve a legal notice to landowners to clear rubbish that attracts or harbours vermin.

“Where we have sufficient evidence we will prosecute fly-tippers. Where dumped rubbish is on publicly owned land we aim to remove as soon as possible, and will prioritise based on location, risk, ease of removal, and available resources."

In addition to prosecuting Northfield fly-tipper James Michael McCann, who was jailed for 13 months, Birmingham City Council has highlighted further measures they have taken against the practice.

The authority invested a further £7.2m into street scene services in 2021.

It said a lot of that money is focused on dumped waste.

What do the people of Birmingham say about fly-tipping in the city?

BirminghamWorld asked the people of Birmingham for their views on whether fly-tipping laws were strong enough - and the response was a resounding ‘no’.

You can see what they said in our video above, with many citing ‘vile’ problems in their neighbourhoods and hitting out at the selfish actions of these environmental criminals.

How many fly-tipping cases are there across Birmingham since 2020?

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