Greens demand answers about £100k spent on Love Norwich campaign
Our councillors are questioning how a £100,000 fund meant to tackle fly-tipping in Norwich has been spent, as the fly-tipping has nearly doubled in the last year in the city.
Fly-tipping is on the rise in Norwich, with 6,000 incidents reported between July 2022 and July 2023. The cost of removal sits at a staggering £349,038, a 94% increase on the council’s estimated costs from the year before, and this figure does not include council officer time.
Meanwhile, despite promising tougher enforcement on fly-tipping via the £100,000 Love Norwich scheme at a budget meeting in February 2023, the Labour-run council only plans to install CCTV in 6-10 sites across the city, less than one per electoral ward.
Additionally, in spite of a promise of tougher enforcement, the number of fines handed out for fly-tipping, as an environmental crime, rose from one in all of 2022, to just two fines this year.
The Love Norwich campaign, which promised so much for the £100,000 it was allocated in the budget, has also failed to deliver the public events it committed to. Just two events have been completed with a third cancelled, and no further news has been announced about the campaign since the local elections in May 2023.
Alex Catt, Deputy Leader of the Green Party group at Norwich City Council said, “We all want to be able to take pride in our city. Many residents were hopeful that the £100,000 the council committed to tackling fly-tipping would result in cleaner streets and a more pleasant environment. Instead the cost of fly-tipping is spiralling while enforcement continues to be non-existent.
“£100,000 was announced just ahead of local elections in May, but with no visible results, we need transparency and accountability on how that money has been spent.”
Ash Haynes, Green Party Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing and Safer Communities at Norwich City Council said, “Green councillors in Norwich have long pushed for action on fly-tipping, leading the calls for CCTV to be installed in fly-tipping hotspots and fines for culprits of environmental crime.
“To help reduce fly-tipping, Norwich should have free collections for bulky waste and communal skips where people can dispose of waste easily and responsibly.”