CHANGES to county council rules on the dumping of trade waste could spark an even bigger upsurge in fly-tipping across East Hampshire, a councillor fears. East Hampshire councillor Judy Onslow is horrified by what could happen from Thursday of next week, when traders are banned from dumping waste at county council Household Waste and Refuse Centres (HWRC's) without a permit. According to Hampshire County Council (HCC), commercial-type vehicles such as vans will have "restricted access" to the sites, which leaves a quandary – where will smallscale builders dump their trade waste? At the moment specialist trade waste centres are scattered across Hampshire; hazardous and electrical materials are dumped at Alton, while Basingstoke has facilities for fridge disposal and Romsey oversees tyres and metals. Mrs Onslow has accused the county council – which is responsible for the waste centres – of failing to face up to the potential crisis, fearing many tradesmen will refuse to comply with the new regulations, leaving EHDC officers to clear up the mess. Instead, she fears that more and more rubbish – from renovated houses and gardens such as building rubble, old bathroom, bedroom and kitchen fixtures and fittings and other household furniture - could end up on roadsides, or cluttering ditches and fields. Speaking to The Herald, Mrs Onslow, councillor for Greatham, Hawkley and Liss Forest, remarked: "The whole thing is just bonkers. People are driving around everywhere with all their bits to different sites – is this a sustainable way to carry on?" The matter was discussed at last week's EHDC overview and scrutiny committee (OSC) meeting, with Mrs Onslow raising some pertinent questions. She said: "Bigger builders will have skips, but for the small man who does somebody's garden, this is going to be a huge problem. "The county don't want to talk about it, and have put nothing in place for what is going to happen after February 14 – they have totally removed responsibility. "This is something the county don't want to face, as there has got to be more sites – but where?" And she argued that county councillors should be liaising with their district counterparts over a "serious issue." Whitehill councillor Adam Carew, who sits on both authorities, said he had "tabled questions" at county level. He works with the Bordon Fly Tipping Forum, and said he hoped to see similar groups spreading across the county. His district includes fly tipping haunts such as the Hogmoor Inclosure, the old Longmoor railway line and the Deadwater Valley Nature Reserve in his district. Cllr Carew said: "The Deadwater Valley is a local nature reserve, and our rangers and volunteers, who are mostly 60 and 70 years old, spend their time picking up fly tipping, despite health and safety concerns, when they should be concerned with conservation work. It's very demoralising." Mr Carew also issued a rallying cry to the authorities. "When we find stuff we are letting people off with a caution," he added. "We have have got to name and shame them, saying this behaviour is unacceptable." EHDC's head of environment and sustainability Brian Turner gave a detailed presentation to OSC members, outlining steps taken by the council to tackle fly tipping. "We are thankfully on a downward spiral," he said. "The scale of the problem exists from small black plastic sacks of domestic waste to tipper lorries full of rubbish. "Some sites are hotspots, and over 80 per cent of fly tips are cleared within 24 hours, but asbestos and other difficult materials do take longer." Speaking about the difficulty of securing prosecutions, he added: "As with any other crime, you must have genuine evidence. "Circumstantial evidence won't stand up, and we need an affidavit from witnesses, who are prepared to go to court." "So far we have had one case where it went to court, but the defendant gave a false name and address." Mr Turner told of steps taken to remedy this in the past and future, including sharing information and registration number with the Environment Agency. He added: "The work with the Bordon Fly Tip Forum has been very useful. The installation of barriers and deterrents at Bordon's Hogmoor Inclosure to stop people and vehicles taking rubbish onto land has been a success. "It is not totally clear, but in terms of scale, it is vastly improved." With a maximum sentence of five years for fly tipping and a fine of up to £50,000, Mr Turner spoke of the installation of visual deterrents. "We put up high visibility signage, which says: 'Fly tipping. We're watching you.' We are happy for these to be ripped down – they are very cheap – but we want people to consider the implications of fly- tipping. "We are looking at access to grants and at several hotspots we could install a covert CCTV system. There are very, very clever pieces of equipment on the market - they are not cheap. "The stuff on the market now is the equivalent to that being used by military, they are state of the art, small digital cameras that can be used at night. "These cameras may just be that vital witness," he said.