Politics & Council · Reading
Reading Council tackles rising fly-tipping with new enforcement plans
By Swindon Now Editorial Team · Published
Reading Borough Council has reported over 5,600 incidents of fly-tipping in the past year, prompting plans to introduce mobile CCTV to combat the issue.
Reading Borough Council is stepping up its efforts to address fly-tipping after recording 5,685 incidents in the 12 months leading up to October 2026. This figure marks a notable increase from the 2,229 reports handled by the council during the previous period of 2024 to 2025.
The issue of illegal waste dumping remains a frequent concern for residents in the town. Known hotspots identified by the council include Oxford Road, Elm Park Road and Kensington Park in West Reading, as well as recurring incidents at various bottle bank sites across the borough.
Addressing the statistics during a recent full council meeting, lead councillor for environmental services and community safety, Finn McGoldrick, confirmed that the council is taking a proactive approach to enforcement. During the last 12 months, the authority issued 349 Fixed Penalty Notices to offenders where sufficient evidence was secured to proceed with legal action.
The council currently partners with Kingdom Local Authority Support to manage enforcement, deploying five dedicated officers. Four of these officers focus on patrolling identified environmental crime hotspots, while the fifth works alongside the council's mobile cleansing team to gather evidence at recycling facilities.
Looking ahead to 2027, the council is set to procure a new Environmental Enforcement Partnership once the current contract expires in March. This new arrangement is expected to introduce mobile CCTV capability to improve the monitoring of hotspot locations outside of the town centre, aimed at providing better support for investigations and acting as a greater deterrent to potential offenders.
Councillor McGoldrick stated that the council remains committed to robust action, including fines and prosecutions, to ensure neighbourhoods are kept clean and safe. Residents are encouraged to continue using the Love Clean Streets platform to report environmental issues to the council.
Source: Reading Chronicle · View original