Residents have hit out at fly-tippers who have been dumping bags of cannabis plants in a picturesque part of Aberdeenshire.
The area surrounding Hatton of Fintray, Aberdeenshire has often been blighted by dumped litter, but after bags of cannabis plants began to appear over a period of months, locals are calling for tougher action on fly-tippers.
Frustration is growing among locals after the matter was reported to police, but they were told that as the items are being dumped on private land, it is the landowner’s responsibility to remove them.
STV NewsKaren Shaw said the items began to appear in the area last summer, and the issue has been getting worse.
She told STV News: “It’s what results from cannabis farms really – leaves and the smell is so strong.
“It’s happening around every five to six weeks, we’ll get another load of about 20 or 30 bags of the stuff.
“A lot of it is soil, but there’s chemical containers in there as well.
“It’s just starting to overwhelm us. There’s an impact on the environment and the people that are using this land.”
STV NewsIt’s up to local authorities to respond to fly-tipping and to remove litter from public land.
They can investigate such incidents alongside the police and other authorities like SEPA.
But if it happens on private land, it’s up to the landowner to deal with it.
The landowner says the scale and what’s inside of these bags makes it difficult to do so.
Edward Johnston from Fintray Estate said: “It used to be the odd tyre, the odd black bag which we could deal with, but this the council won’t take, and we can’t take it to the waste site as it classed as industrial waste.
“You’re up a blind alley, really; I suppose now we have to look at specialists to take it away.”
STV NewsPolice said they met with residents last year over a similar reported incident, but locals say they want to see tougher controls brought in.
Edward added: “There should be stronger deterrents. It’s just getting bigger all the time. They’re getting more confident that they can come and dump the stuff.”
Karen said: “It doesn’t feel fair when it’s a repeated incident, fly tipping is a crime but we’re getting stuck with it.”
The Scottish Government say they understand the impact such incidents have on communities and have developed a new fly-tipping strategy, with minimum fines for the offence having now more than doubled.
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