A CALL for surveillance cameras to target fly tipping, as successfully done in Ceredigion using special UK government funding, can’t be replicated in Pembrokeshire this year as the funds have already run out, councillors heard.
In a question submitted to the May meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, Cllr Viv Stoddart raised the issue of fly-tipping in her ward of Milford Hubberston.
Cllr Stoddart asked: “Ceredigion County Council recently sourced funding to place cameras at fly-tipping hot spots across the county. A surveillance camera was placed in a covert location overlooking a layby which had been identified as a fly-tipping and littering hotspot for several years.
“The camera caught an individual who arrived at the site in a car and threw a white plastic bag into vegetation bordering a river, before driving off again. This resulted in the successful issuing of a fixed penalty notice to the person responsible for the fly tipping.
“I frequently have to notify PCC of rubbish dumping at the two fly-tipping hotspots in Hubberston Ward; Silverstream Bridge and Lower Priory Woods. The replies from PCC to my previous requests for surveillance cameras at one or both locations was that it was not an easy matter and not recommended by the council’s environmental contractors WISE.
“Neighbouring Ceredigion funded their cameras from the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Hot Spot Responses Fund, a UK Government initiative.
“Will PCC apply to this fund for a grant to install cameras in Hubberston Ward, and in similar fly-tipping hot spots across the county?”
Responding, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett said the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Hot Spot Responses Fund for 2025-26 had already been allocated, adding the council had previously look at potential surveillance options and would revisit the potential use of such systems in the county.
Members heard the council was targeting fly-tipping investigations, with 130 fixed penalties issued county-wide in 2024-25.
