This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Hotline to combat 'Dumb Dumpers'
09/03/2004
A fly tipping hotline and 'Dumb Dumpers' advertising campaign designed to stop people tipping rubbish inScotland's countryside were launched today.
Deputy Environment Minister Allan Wilson launched the hotline and campaign with television's notorious grumpy old man, Victor Meldrew.
The new National fly-tipping Stop Line, funded by the Executive, provides a single point of contact for anyone who witnesses fly-tipping or who wishes to inform the authorities of a fly-tipping site that needs cleared.
Illegal dumping is an eyesore, endangers wildlife and, according to figures released by Keep Scotland Beautiful, costs Scottish Council Tax payers £11 million and the average farmer £1,000 per annum.
The Minister said:
"The Scottish Executive is working for a cleaner and safer environment, flytipping is a national eyesore that blights many communities and we are determined to stamp it out.
"The launch of the Stop Line means that everyone inScotlandcan take action to help us rid their community of fly-tipping. I would encourage anyone who witnesses fly-tipping, or find a fly-tipping site to call 08452 30 40 90 and help catch the fly-tippers.
"The Stop Line should serve as a warning to fly-tippers - this behaviour will not be tolerated. We are also taking further action through the Antisocial Behaviour Bill to crack down further on this eyesore."
Minister for Communities Margaret Curran said:
"Fly-tipping scars communities, harms the environment, and will not be tolerated. We are determined to tackle all forms of antisocial behaviour, and the Antisocial Behaviour Bill will give local authorities, police and SEPA the power to issue fixed penalty fines for fly-tippers.
"I expect, however, that serious fly-tipping incidents will continue to be dealt with by the courts, and I would strongly encourage people to use the hotline to report all incidents of fly-tipping."
The Executive has provided a total of £340,000 to support the work of the Scottish Fly-tipping Forum which is made up of a number of interested parties such as COSLA, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Landowner Federations, the Police, the National Trust forScotland, Railtrack, NFU Scotland and the Scottish Executive.
A major campaign has been planned called DD and will feature television and radio adverts aimed at publicising the Stopline number and raising awareness of the fly-tipping problem. The television adverts will carry the logo from the "Do A Little, Change A Lot" Campaign.