A Dudley councillor is urging agencies to improve how they share intelligence and evidence to catch fly-tippers, following the latest incident of rubbish being dumped near a brain injury support centre.
Cllr Shaukat Ali said the council and police need a more coordinated approach to tackle the problem, which has seen clothes, furniture and trinkets piled up in Church Street, close to the car park of the Headway centre. The centre supports people recovering from brain injuries.
Incident near Headway centre
The most recent fly-tipping in Church Street is believed to have happened at around 9.30pm on August 29. Cllr Ali said the dumping has become a recurring issue at the hotspot, which is also near a mental health centre.
He said: "We need a stronger team, it needs more resource and to be more proactive and there needs to closer working with the council's officers, the Antisocial Behaviour Team as well ticketing officers who do parking."
"If they are going along and seeing things because they are out and about all the time, that needs to be coordinated as well as with police and community support officers," he added.
Data sharing challenges
Cllr Ali highlighted that sharing information between agencies is sometimes difficult due to GDPR and other issues. He called for a "joined up approach" so that everyone can share information effectively.
"Everyone needs to be able to share information, that's an issue sometimes because of GDPR and all of those kind of issues. It needs to be a joined up approach," he said.
The councillor also stressed that if culprits are identified, they should face the full force of the law to send a serious message. "If they are able to identify who it is they need to face the full force of the law so that it sends a serious message," he said.
Waste enforcement team under pressure
A report presented to the council's cabinet in August 2026 revealed that the authority currently has five full-time posts in its waste enforcement team, including four enforcement officers and one technical officer. In recent months, the team has had between 150 and 250 active cases.
The report, signed by Nick McGurk, Dudley group director of communities and growth, said: "This team has a very wide remit and struggles to meet the expectations of councillors and residents."
It also noted that, like other teams, the enforcement team lost posts during the council's financial controls. However, the report added: "The recent improvement in the council's financial situation has led to a proposed increase of two enforcement officers."
Cllr Ali's call for action comes as the council considers increasing the size of the enforcement team, which could help address the ongoing issue of fly-tipping in Dudley.
