2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 15 September 2020.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:09, 15 September 2020

Trefnydd, one of the consequences of COVID has been that many of us have been getting more exercise. We've been taking walks in some of the incredible and beautiful countryside that we have around us. I regularly now walk through the Coedely woods, through the Smaelog, and the reconnection with nature is really something that is perhaps one of the positives that have come out of this pandemic.

But alongside that is the appalling behaviour of a minority of people and the amount of fly-tipping, the amount of rubbish that is being dumped. I've been photographing this. At one stage, I couldn't walk more than a couple of metres without coming across fly-tipping. Rhondda Cynon Taf council has been tremendous at not only monitoring social media, but then going along and clearing this up, but, of course, at a cost to all those members of the public who don't engage in that sort of anti-social behaviour.

The point I make is this: Rhondda Cynon Taf have been very vigorous in prosecuting, there have been a number of prosecutions, but the fines are no deterrent. They're far less than the benefit the individual gets, and in no way reflect the cost to the council of having to clear up these sites. Now, I've written to the Counsel General on this point, but it seems to me it would be very helpful if there was a Government-time debate here where we talked about the legislation that exists, the penalties that exist, how the penalties have now got to relate to the cost of clearing up fly-tipping, and how we've got to campaign against this anti-social behaviour. Do you agree with me that now would be a good time to actually start talking about this, and to seriously look at the legislation to improve our ability to deter and to prosecute those who engage in this terrible anti-social behaviour?