Milton Keynes tip booking system could be SCRAPPED by Autumn in council U-turn

The current booking system for local household waste sites is to be reviewed after the summer, councillors have revealed today.

Ruling Labour and Lib Dem councillors, now known as the Progressive Alliance, have today set out a plan to reduce the soaring rates of fly-tipping in MK.

They intend to bring in extra enforcement to prosecute more fly-tippers, and employ a new environmental crime enforcement officer to bring them to justice.

And the current tip booking system will be reviewed after social distancing ends, they have promised.

Fly-tipping has increased 300% nationally since 2015 and in Milton Keynes it has increased by around 16% in recent years.

The council has increased the use of CCTV and has increased the number of prosecutions, however the more comprehensive action plan is needed.

The Progressive Alliance is also planning to conduct in-depth research into the causes of fly-tipping and how best to target resources into dealing with the issue.

The new 12 month plan is due to be published tomorrow and voted on by councillors next week.

It will also include a commitment to review the tip booking system after sites have been operating without social distancing for three months - even though leading councillors say that early issues with slot availability are already now mainly resolved.

Cllr Lauren Townsend, Labour Progressive Alliance Cabinet Member for Public Realm said: “Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats that make up the Progressive Alliance campaigned to take more action on this issue and we will."

She added: “We will bring forward a plan to tackle this issue based on evidence and what works. In the meantime, we are increasing resources and brining in an extra environmental enforcement officer to deal with fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles, and we will be increasing CCTV to catch more of these criminals.

"The review will look at the tip-booking system after it has been operational for three months with no social distancing, because while we believe that the issues with booking slots have now mainly been resolved and when distancing ends even more slots will be available, we will make our decisions based on facts.

“We will not pander to criminals who fly-tip or give them any excuses... The Progressive Alliance will tackle fly-tipping and ensure we have proper plans in place to deal with the criminals that blight our communities rather than giving them the green light.”