Countryside Alliance backs tough fly-tipping law in Scotland

The Scottish Countryside Alliance (SCA) has backed proposals for tougher measures to crack down on fly-tipping in Scotland and urged farmers in the country to have their say on the nuisance rural crime.

Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife, wants the government to help reduce fly-tipping by introducing new measures and strengthening existing law.

See also: What to do if you’re a victim of… fly-tipping

The MSP is trying to drum up support for his fly-tipping bill that seeks to:

• Improve the collection and reporting of fly-tipping data, to give a clearer picture of the number of fly-tipping incidents
• Remove the legal responsibility from the person on whose property the waste has been dumped
• Make the person who generated the waste legally responsible for it
• Increase and standardise the penalties for fly-tipping

Farmers can respond to the consultation which runs until Tuesday 23 May.

Mr Fraser said: “Fly-tipping is an anti-social act that causes harm to communities and distress to individuals.

“It is also a blight on the landscape and very bad for the environment. I believe the current laws around fly-tipping need to change.”

The SCA has long campaigned on the issue of fly-tipping and said the rural crime has a significant impact on farmland and wildlife.

Jake Swindells, director of the SCA, said: “This proposed legislation by Murdo Fraser is a welcome step in tackling this anti-social crime.

“We need to equip authorities with the tools to tackle fly-tipping, educate the public about their duty of care to the waste they generate and ensure that private landowners are treated fairly when they are the victim of crime.”

Mr Fraser’s proposed Members’ Bill must be supported by at least 18 other MSPs for it to move forward in parliament.

At that point, the Scottish government gets the chance to stop the MSP’s proposal, but only by promising that they will change the law in much the same way.

If enough other MSPs support the proposal, and it is not stopped by the government, the MSP gets the right to introduce a Members’ Bill.