Littering fine... strong case for appeal?

funrunner95

Hi everyone, I've been served with a 150 euro fine for allegedly "illegal dumping" by a local authority. What happened was that I had left my refuse bags in special refuse disposal company bags out on a Tuesday morning, they are usually collected on a Tuesday evening. In this case they weren't collected until Wednesday evening but that afternoon a litter warden had spotted my so called dumping and issued a fine accordingly that I got in the post this week. What's worse is I wasn't around to notice the bags weren't collected. I was thinking of appealing the fine, would my version of events be a strong enough grounds for an appeal? I've heard the appeals process can be arbitrary.

Pat Mustard

Have you been in contact with the local authority in relation to this?

funrunner95

The Mustard wrote: »

Have you been in contact with the local authority in relation to this?

I didn't get a chance to yet

Pat Mustard

Should the local authority decide to drop the matter, that would be better than preparing for court and hoping for a win.

To quote a man far wiser than I:

...to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

A bit hyperbolic in relation to a littering fine, but anyway...

No Pants

Can you get a statement from the company that says they collected them 24 hours later?

funrunner95

No Pants wrote: »

Can you get a statement from the company that says they collected them 24 hours later?

That's an avenue I may need to pursue, collections by the waste disposal company have been delayed before by up to 2 days but I've obviously never been fined for the rubbish remaining outside in the intervening period

No Pants

funrunner95 wrote: »

That's an avenue I may need to pursue, collections by the waste disposal company have been delayed before by up to 2 days but I've obviously never been fined for the rubbish remaining outside in the intervening period

If I'd paid them to take rubbish away of day X, but they didn't do it and my rubbish was then considered litter due to them not collecting it on the agreed date, I'd be sending them the littering fine. They're the ones that littered.

funrunner95

I called into my local authority, I was basically told the bags were out on the wrong day, I tried to explain they were there from the previous day and that they were meant to be collected as per agreement between the council and the refuse collection company, I was just fobbed off and told I had the option of appealing....

slimjimmc

Do any of your neighbours use the same company, and what happened to them?

No Pants

funrunner95 wrote: »

I called into my local authority, I was basically told the bags were out on the wrong day, I tried to explain they were there from the previous day and that they were meant to be collected as per agreement between the council and the refuse collection company, I was just fobbed off and told I had the option of appealing....

If you're sure of your story, then call the refuse company and tell them they'll be paying. If they don't agree, then small claims court.

...__...

There are rules for putting your rubbish out for collection think its only allwoed between 6 am and 11 pm iirc
While I do sympathise with you as you tried to do the right thing the fine was right it was the company who was at fault demand they cover the costs involved as refusing to pay will result in a court action. these can get costly.