Regarding the article in the Romsey Advertiser edition of June 26 and letters on the same topic, of fly-tipping and waste in general.

As a countryside lover, I certainly deplore the spoiling of our countryside by criminal fly-tippers, however, it seems to me, and others too, that the actions of our county and local councils actually encourage these deplorable activities.

Making the disposal of waste difficult (ie. booking slots at the tips, making vans/trailers count as commercial, etc), is just the excuse that some need to indulge in ruining our countryside.

Why, when you have a problem (fly-tipping) do you take actions to encourage the problem to get worse one wonders?

Surely, you make things easier, and hopefully the problem will be eased or even, one hopes, solved.

The more rules, obstructions and difficulties you introduce, the more likely that the unscrupulous will take what for them is the easy option.

The fact that, as I understand it, the county run the community tips, but local councils have the responsibility for removal of fly-tipped waste, seems to be another anomaly.

So, if the county introduce a policy that encourages fly-tipping, its not them that have to clear up (literally), the mess!

There will always be the unscrupulous who will take the lazy option, to the detriment of the rest of us, but the reported scourge of fly-tipping cannot, in my humble opinion, be solved by following the current councils policy.

A change in the way this is tackled is surely the way forward.

M. J. Napier.

Chandlers Ford