Rosemary Butler has welcomed new figures which show that Newport City Council gets full marks for the way it responds to fly tipping incidents.

The independent Local Government Data Unit which produces annual reports on council performances throughout Wales, discovered that Newport now deals with every reported case of fly tipping on relevant land within five days. Only one other council in Wales, the Vale of Glamorgan, achieved the same rate of success over the last year.

Rosemary Butler said:

“I know that fly tipping is a serious problem and that we shouldn’t really have to put up with it at all. However Newport City Council should be congratulated for the way they deal with it, and people who criticise them should be grateful that they don’t live in nearby Monmouthshire which has the worst record in Wales.”

She added:

“That doesn’t mean there’s room for complacency in Newport however and I am very pleased that the Assembly, with its extra lawmaking powers, is now looking for new ways of controlling fly tipping. I hope we can eventually eliminate this anti-social practice once and for all,”

Mrs Butler also welcomed a new report out today which shows that Newport provides one of the most cost effective recycling services in South East Wales.

Cylch- the Wales Community Recycling Network which carried out a survey on kerbside recycling collections in Newport, Torfaen, Monmouthshire and parts of Blaenau Gwent and Powys reports that Newport leads the way by operating at about £40 a tonne. The average figure for local authorities generally is £250 per tonne.

“This is a tremendous achievement,” she said, “and it shows that the social enterprise based partnership between Newport Wastesavers, the City Council and the Assembly is working well.”

Wednesday 0ctober 10