On 31 August, the council announced it had secured convictions against Northampton residents Terna Nina and Audrius Jankauskas for putting their waste out before their designated collection days.
The council says it found “a large accumulation of household waste” in April at the junction of the street where Ms Nina once lived. She was fined £600 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a £60 victim surcharge, after ignoring an original £450 fixed penalty notice (FPN).
In a separate case, Audrius Jankauskas was fined £150 and ordered to pay £600 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge after the council found sacks of waste and recycling outside his home in May. The council said he had also ignored his original £150 FPN.
In a statement, Cllr David Smith, the council’s cabinet member for community safety and engagement and regulatory services, said: “This particular case relates to residents who put their bin bags out too early.
“The rules are clear: if you put your waste out before the day of collection it will be treated as fly-tipping and you will be issued a fine.”
A spokesperson for the council told letsrecycle.com the convictions were not “unreasonable” as in each case the waste was found on a Monday when their collections were not due until Thursday.
Urban areas
West Northamptonshire council represents an estimated population of more than 400,000. The council was formed in April 2021 following the merger of the three non-metropolitan districts of Daventry, Northampton and South Northamptonshire.
The council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com it experienced the same challenges associated with collecting waste in a densely populated area such as Northampton as in “all urban areas”.
The spokesperson said they had issues with houses in multiple occupation, transient tenants, limited space for suitable storage areas or infrastructure for household waste in flats or terraced houses, and “the general conversion of properties to more dense occupancy”.
The spokesperson said residents should use a secure storage device, such as a dustbin, to store waste on their property until 6am on their collection day. It is “unusual” for properties not to have any storage space at all, they added.
Residents should dispose of any excess waste for free at West Northamptonshire’s six household waste recycling centres, the spokesperson said, two of which are in Northampton.
Expectations
“The requirements around presentation of waste are quite clear,” the spokesperson told letsrecycle.com.
A tough stance on fly-tippers will create a positive environment in which all residents can thrive
- West Northamptonshire council spokesperson
“Responsible management of household waste not only prevents the spread of disease from vermin, but it is also an expectation of residents that they live in a place free from litter and unsightly waste.
“Failure to do so can lead to a downward spiral as a result of the so-called ‘broken window syndrome’ and a tough stance on fly-tippers will create a positive environment in which all residents can thrive.”
Collections
The council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com that the newly formed West Northamptonshire council inherited the sovereign councils’ existing contractual arrangements. Collection services for the former Northampton borough and Daventry district are outsourced to Veolia and Norse respectively, while services in South Northamptonshire are in-house.
Most residents see their waste collected fortnightly in wheeled bins. The spokesperson said “a small percentage” of residents, mainly in the terraced areas of Northampton, received weekly collections using sacks for residual waste, caddies for food and boxes for dry mixed recycling.
Asked whether the government’s plans to introduce consistent collections across England would cause problems for West Northamptonshire’s services, the spokesperson said the council already offered separate food collections and could accommodate separate paper collections, “if required”.
Ombudsman
Earlier this year, the Local Government Ombudsman told the London borough of Haringey to amend a policy which saw waste left outside an allocated collection slot counted as fly-tipping (see letsrecycle.com story). Previously, residents who had done so could be issued a FPN for as much as £400.
The West Northamptonshire spokesperson told letsrecycle.com that Ms Terna and Mr Jankauskas’s fines had been issued by a court of law and are in accordance with legislation. It was a matter for the individuals concerned to consider an appeal, they said.
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