Flintshire: £400k illegal tip clean-up cost may never be repaid

Some councillors are now concerned the authority, which this week revealed its budget gap had grown from £38.4m to £47.5m despite significant cuts, has been left exposed to storms or unexpected events this winter.

Its contingency reserves – the money it keeps aside for unexpected costs – now sits at just £381,000.

“The only place we’ve got to fund that additional spend [for the tip clean-up] is the contingency reserve,” corporate finance manager Gary Ferguson told the corporate resources overview and scrutiny committee.

But while officers’ recommendations to councillors included a provision to recover costs through legal action, it is not certain at this stage that any money would be retrieved.

An investigation into who is responsible for the tip is being carried out by environment body Natural Resources Wales (NRW), supported by North Wales Police.

NRW said that “if any offences are identified, we will take appropriate enforcement action”.

Councillor David Coggins Cogan told the committee he was concerned about the decision to dip into the council’s meagre reserves.