New figures released this week by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), expose the Liberal Democrat-run Mid Devon District Council’s abject failure to tackle fly-tipping. In 2023/24, there were 445 reported incidents of fly-tipping across the district, yet not a single prosecution was pursued. Shockingly, only 11 fines were issued, despite the scale of the problem.
Conservative campaigners have slammed the council’s inaction, warning that weak enforcement is turning Mid Devon into a dumping ground and encouraging criminals to act with impunity.
Paul Osman, Conservative candidate for Willand and Uffculme at the upcoming Devon County Council elections, said: “Fly-tipping blights our countryside, damages our environment, and costs local taxpayers thousands to clean up. Yet under the Liberal Democrats, Mid Devon has become a soft touch, with zero prosecutions in an entire year. If councils don’t enforce the law, more people will see fly-tipping as risk-free.”
The government used to publish a league table but Labour have opted to stop this. If the league table was publish Mid Devon would rank in one of the worst districts in the country.
Toby Gray, an Afghanistan veteran and the Conservative candidate for Tiverton West, added: “It’s completely unacceptable that we have hundreds of incidents and barely any consequences for those responsible. This is a failure of leadership. We need a tougher approach—more fines, more prosecutions, and proper deterrents in place.”
A former Mayor of Tiverton Cllr Colin Slade, who is a current Devon County Councillor for Tiverton East used his experience to add “Our town and villages should not have to put up with this. People are fed up with weak enforcement and endless excuses. The Liberal Democrats talk tough, but the numbers don’t lie. We need a council that will actually stand up for local people and protect our countryside.”
The Conservatives are calling for a far tougher response, including more resources for enforcement teams, stronger penalties for offenders, and better use of CCTV and tracking technology to catch those responsible.
