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Environmental Health
Litter Act 1979
The Litter Act makes it an offence for any person to deposit litter of any kind in a public place, or onto private land without the prior approval of the landowner.
| To deposit means |
i) |
to cast, place, throw or drop; and |
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ii) |
to allow to be cast, dropped or to escape from any motor vehicle or trailer. |
| Action can be taken where there is clear evidence as to who the offender is, for example: |
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1. |
An eyewitness identifying a particular person; or |
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2. |
An eyewitness recording a car registration number; and |
In all cases sufficient other information such as the time, day, location, type of litter etc will help identify an offender.
In cases where there is no witness, the contents of the rubbish itself will sometimes help in identifying the owner of the rubbish. If there is no evidence linking an offender or owner to the litter, the removal and disposal of the litter then becomes the responsibility of the landowner.
The Health Act 1956
When rubbish is deposited with the consent of the landowner, such as people simply failing to remove their refuse from their property and a nuisance situation is created, the Health Act 1956 can be used to instigate follow up action.
If you have a complaint regarding litter or rubbish contact us. In most cases we will simply make a formal request to the offender to remove the rubbish within a stipulated time frame.
Although prosecution can be taken under both pieces of legislation, this is very rare. It is the most likely course of action when offenders fail to remove the rubbish, offend repeatedly or when the offence is of such a serious nature that it poses a serious risk to public health.
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