People in Bridgend are getting away with fly-tipping and parking infringements despite being caught, according to a councillor who is calling for better enforcement.
During the past year 76 fines were issued for fly-tipping in the county but almost two-thirds were waived with just 19 being paid.
And while a total of 8,531 fines were issued for parking infringements 1,355 of those were never paid because they were waived.
When it comes to putting out rubbish there were 11 fines issued for not complying with regulations but almost half have been waived with five still pending and just one fine actually paid.
And there were no fines for dog fouling or littering.
Speaking at a Bridgend County Borough Council meeting in March, Councillor Matthew Voisey said he was shocked at some of the figures.
The Oldcastle ward councillor said: “The number of tickets which are waived almost gives the public impunity to go around littering, allowing their dogs to foul, and to not comply with waste disposal regulations.
“It’s really not acceptable. What are officers and the cabinet going to do about the lack of enforcement on littering and dog fouling and other anti-social behaviour around parking and fly-tipping?”
Deputy leader Hywel Williams said: “We recognise the issue of dog fouling and littering and we are happy to announce that from the end of April we will have an enforcement team in place. They will be out on the ground and issuing fixed-penalty notices.
“I can't agree more that it is a horrendous situation we find ourselves in [with dog fouling], it’s not the council’s fault that people are allowing their dogs to foul in public places but it is something we are taking action on.”
Officers said a contract for litter and dog fouling enforcement had been awarded to an external company.
Zak Shell, head of neighbourhood services, said: “This time next year we hope to see some substantial figures in the number of fines being issued for both littering and dog fouling.
“Potentially the enforcement powers will increase to not just taking action over dog fouling and littering but issues like not carrying dog poo bags when walking your dog, which demonstrates you have no intent to pick up the mess.
“Steps are being taken to improve the situation and they’re being taken on a no-cost basis in that the award of contract isn’t one that is expected to be a cost to the authority, it’s expected to be one that generates enough income to pay for itself.”
Mr Shell told councillors waived penalties for parking infringements were dealt with by a processing department working on behalf of a number of local authorities in Wales.
He said: “They’ll consider various categories and arguments of relevant mitigation that result in penalties being waived.
“It could be that a resident who has parked on double yellow lines is able to park there but has forgotten to display their blue badge, or somebody that’s parked in a loading bay is able to show evidence they’re connected with a property nearby.
“With fly-tipping we don’t just let people of the hook lightly we take everything on a case-by-case basis.
“Ultimately we’re interested in a behaviour change not punishment.”
The full council meeting took place on March 20.
