By Andrew Forgrave,Jonathon Hill
Copyright dailypost
Sofas, fridges and tyres litter grass verges and steel stumps poke up from the ground. Building rubble lies abandoned on roads and white van drivers can be seen acting furtively. Residents say it feels as if the village has been “abandoned”.
The situation in Peterstone, located in the Gwent Levels, is said to have spiralled out of control. The village lies southwest of Newport, which has been identified as the worst area in Wales for fly-tipping, according to government data.
Newport recorded the highest number of incidents across the country in 2023 and 2024 with 8,139 cases – a staggering 37% more than in Cardiff, based on Welsh Government statistics.
Despite a slight decrease to 7,318 incidents between 2024 and 2025, this figure still represents a nearly 17% increase compared to 2022. Since 2019, there has been a 63% surge in fly-tipping incidents in Newport, according to the Welsh Government’s figures, but locals believe this only scratches the surface of the problem.
Data obtained by local Conservative campaigner Michael Enea through a freedom of information request to Newport City Council reveals that in 2024, despite investigating 7,300 reports, the local authority in Newport issued just 124 fines for fly-tipping. During the same period, only 10 fly-tipping incidents were successfully prosecuted in Newport, the research suggests.
Newport council revealed they handed out 313 penalties between April 2024 and March 2025 – a dramatic surge from merely 22 fines the year before. The local authority acknowledged it had only pursued 10 prosecutions but noted this represented an increase from four the previous year.
The council said there had been a 23.6% rise in enforcement activity during the same timeframe, which may have contributed to the dramatic escalation in cases. The North Wales Live Whatsapp community for top stories and breaking news is live now – here’s how to sign up
In Peterstone, landscape gardener Rhys Warrilow expressed little shock at the figures and suggested they could have been even higher. “It’s a massive issue here,” he told WalesOnline.
“I am not surprised at all by those statistics. At Green Lane, which runs across the back of the houses here, it’s constant and you have to avoid the lane a lot of the time because stuff has been dumped.”
Green Lane appeared tidier than normal during our visit this week, yet we still encountered several instances of fly-tipping along the roadside and in the drainage channels.
“The amount of tyres you see is phenomenal,” Rhys said. “Often you have to turn around and find alternative routes. It’s quite incredible. A lot of it is building work and rubble which has been emptied off the back of a lorry but you’ll also get fridges, sofas, and general household waste.”
Regarding the reason for such a dramatic increase in recent years, Rhys suggested it stems from reduced frequency of refuse collections and altered regulations at council recycling centres following the Covid pandemic. Newport City Council now empties black bins just once every three weeks whilst household waste centres operate solely through advance booking arrangements.
Rhys explained: “Black bin collections are less frequent and tips are operating booking schemes. Where we are, sort of in between Newport and Cardiff, you’ll get people coming from Cardiff dumping stuff because it’s more difficult to trace.
“You’ll also have people in the local area using waste collectors instead of doing it themselves but that waste collector might often be just dumping it.
“It really p***** me off because as a landscape gardener I could just dump stuff but I don’t – I pay to sort the waste properly.
“It is harder to dispose of waste now though without a doubt. Because of the collections being once every three weeks now I’m sometimes having to ask relatives if they can take a black bin or two off me because if my bin doesn’t close the bin men won’t take it.”
Newport Council claims it switched to three-weekly domestic and garden waste collections due to recycling requirements. It stated: “We spend more than £2.2m to dispose of non-recyclable waste every year. New data shows that almost 40% of it could have been recycled at home.
“The Welsh Government has set targets for Welsh councils to recycle 70% of household waste. Recycling rates in Newport have improved significantly over the last 15 years, up from 20% to 67%. However we must increase our recycling rate to avoid a heavy fine.
“Based on our current recycling performance we could be fined more than £500,000 for every year we fail to meet this target. If you sort your waste and recycle all you can using our separate recycling collections every week you’ll have less leftover rubbish to put in your bin for non-recyclable waste.”
Peterstone is littered with council notices cautioning residents against illegal dumping, whilst the authority recently erected posts to mount surveillance cameras around the area as an additional deterrent – but within days the poles had been severed during the night.
Local resident and community councillor Lee Colvin, who works as a teacher, explained: “You’ve got cameras being put up and then hours later being cut down. The stumps are still there.
“It’s actually affecting people’s ability to sell their homes around here. It’s that bad. One of the worst incidents I saw in Peterstone was outside our house when a white van literally pulled up with a big tank with hazchem (hazardous chemicals) marks all over it and he just turned the tap on and it all started spewing out.
“I’m a science teacher and knew what was coming out of that tank was not good. The guy said it was water. It definitely wasn’t.
“They ripped the number plates off and fled after I challenged them. That’s how blatant it can be. But it’s not usually that blatant – often it happens at night.”
Resident Leon Tarr said: “We believe only one person has ever been prosecuted for flytipping on Green Lane. Since the pub closed fewer people are in the area, the camera that’s here doesn’t operate, and it’s an easy place to do it. All the greens, if you take a look through them, you’ll see stuff in all of them.”
The local pub is the Six Bells, which has remained shuttered for years whilst the community attempts to raise funds for its reopening.
The village lacks basic facilities, with no shop or post office available. “The place feels forgotten,” Rhys said.
Bernie Cook, the village’s longest-standing resident, added: “At Christmas time in particular you’ll find massive pieces of furniture – I presume from where people have had new stuff for Christmas and can’t be bothered to dispose of what they don’t want properly.
“I’ve seen it get far worse of late. When my children were small there was nothing like this. Certainly no refuse dumping from building contractors. It’s dreadful. Often it’s filthy because there’s all sorts in there.”
What the council said
Newport council revealed that between April and June this year their waste enforcement and engagement team issued 50 penalties to individuals for flytipping and other waste-related violations totalling £14,700 – an increase from 35 fines issued during the same period last year for flytipping offences.
“We are continuing to see a reduction in the total number of flytipping incidents,” they said.
“The total number from April to June is around 10.4% lower than it was in 2024. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
“This continues the trend we saw during the period April 2024-March 2025 where the total number of incidents had reduced by more than 10% when compared with the previous 12 months.”
The council continued: “As well as issuing fines the team has also increased other enforcement actions. The number of warning letters issued for household waste offences during this period was 195 and the number of statutory notices given to people for household waste offences was 123. Both of those stats are up on the same period in 2024 (24 warning letters and 36 statutory notices respectively).
“These are first steps on the enforcement process with regards to household waste. Officers will look to work with people on presenting their waste correctly with fines being issued as a last resort to repeat offenders. The team has also passed 10 serious environmental crime cases to the council’s legal team for further action.”
Cllr Yvonne Forsey, cabinet member for climate change, waste, and recycling, added: “These stats show that we are continuing to take decisive action against the scourge of flytipping. We have invested more and more resources into this area and the increase in fines and warnings issued to offenders is evidence that we are having an impact.
“The fact that the total number of incidents is down compared with April-June last year is also pleasing. We will keep taking a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping to make sure these trends continue.”
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