Wiltshire Council News

A FEW DAYS LEFT TO NOMINATE VOLUNTEERS FOR AWARDS

There is only a week to nominate someone for the first Wiltshire Council VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) Awards. Supported by NHS Wiltshire, the awards will be looking for people working on exceptional or innovative schemes that help to transform the lives of people in the county.

The winners will be announced and awards handed out at a ceremony, which will be funded by sponsorship, at the Corn Exchange in Devizes on October 19.

The awards have been organised to acknowledge the contribution made by the voluntary and community sector to Wiltshire’s communities.

The six team award categories are partnership working, innovation, best community initiative nominated by an area board, most inclusive approach, community leadership and volunteer of the year.

There is also an overall Making a Difference award for the winner of the winners.

For more details on the awards and information on how to apply visit the Wiltshire Council Website or call Leanne Homewood on 01225 713150.

The deadline for applications is July 16.

COUNCIL INCREASES DETERRENT AGAINST FLY TIPPES

Fly tipping is a criminal offence which leaves the offender liable to a maximum fine of £50,000 and up to six months imprisonment.

The council also wishes to make sure householders are aware of their responsibilities when employing anyone to remove waste from their property. This could include waste produced by gardening or building work. The property owners have a legal duty to ensure waste is only removed by an authorised carrier registered with the Environment Agency.

Failure to obtain a waste transfer note displaying the company name and address plus their waste carriers licence number could result in a £5,000 fine for the householder.

In 2009-10 there were 1,439 fly tipping incidents in the Wiltshire Council area costing the authority more than £130,000 in collection and disposal costs.

The council issued 127 statutory notices, carried out documentation checks on 68 businesses, issued 11 formal cautions and undertook two successful prosecutions, one to a householder for passing their waste to an unlicensed carrier.

Cabinet member for highways and transport, Dick Tonge, said: “We don’t want to spend our time prosecuting people who fly tip or don’t dispose of their waste properly, but we can’t allow the irresponsible few to get away with it.

“We are going to crack down on this. Almost everybody complains bitterly about the few who fly tip and litter our roads and countryside. The financial penalties for ignoring the law are severe.”