The south Angus border with Dundee has emerged as the frontline of the area’s war against fly-tipping.
New data has shown almost 500 incidents of illegal dumping have been reported since April – with the Monifeith and Sidlaws boundary patch experiencing almost seven times the fly-tipping frequency of other areas.
Potentially deadly asbestos and tipper lorry-sized loads of rubbish have been among the material left at roadsides in a problem councillors fear is the tip of the iceberg.
Statistics for the period since April revealed that 163 incidents were reported by Angus Council’s operations team, with 308 further reports flooding in from members of the public.
With 45 of the council-reported incidents logged in the Monifieth and Sidlaw area, the ward was by some margin the worst affected area of Angus.
Arbroath West and Letham was the second worst-hit area with 25 council-recorded incidents.
In Carnoustie and Montrose there were only seven fly-tipping reports logged by council staff, but one local member has said he fears many incidents are going unreported.
Farmers on the Angus/Dundee border have previously spoken out about the scale of the problem, admitting that it is easier just to clear it up themselves because the local authority will not collect rubbish fly-tipped on private land.
Carnoustie Independent councillor Brian Boyd said: “These are recorded instances of fly-tipping, but I fear this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“I also think we need to look at the number of single items that have been dumped, as well as the incidents where the rubbish would have fitted in a car boot.
“There has been an assumption that a lot of fly-tipping is associated with people offering to take rubbish to the skip, but pocketing the money and simply dumping it at the roadside. These statistics indicate a broader issue.”
He added: “Moving Monifieth and Carnoustie recycling centres to part-time hours is clearly starting to cause problems, and it will only get worse when a number of centres stop taking general waste altogether.”
Monifieth and Sidlaw Conservative councillor Craig Fotheringham added: “This is really quite unacceptable and just spoils a beautiful area people live and work in.
“I would urge people to show some responsibility and civic pride and use the appropriate facilities to dispose of waste and unwanted items.
“I would also ask residents to be vigilant and report any sightings of fly-tipping to the police, with a vehicle registration number and description if possible.
“I will be doing the same and am appalled at the mindless attitude of a minority of people,” said Mr Fotheringham.
Angus Council has repeatedly condemned fly-tipping as “the selfish and illegal acts of a minority.”
“We will continue to investigate all incidences of fly-tipping and take action and issue fixed penalty notices and proceed to prosecution as appropriate,” said a council spokesperson.
“We will also look to increase our use of deployable cameras in areas that have experienced fly-tipping and consider other preventative measures.
“There are simply no excuses to fly-tip.”
