Michael Hoy, a Rochford councillor said: “I was down there and it blocked the whole road, no one could get through. It was awful.
“It looked like a tipper truck had just dropped its load and left, it was clearly commercial waste. I worry that this is a sign that it will get worse because some recycling centres no longer takes garden waste.”
What?
Stuart Wilson, a councillor for the Hullbridge ward, added: “It looked like this had been done by a professional.
“It is definitely more than a coincidence that this has happened since they banned the disposal of garden waste at sites. It was inevitable this was going to happen I suppose. That is why the opposition voted against it at Essex County Council because we knew this would happen.”
What utter cretin thought that was a good idea?
A spokesman from Rochford Council said: “We were contacted at about 8.25am with a report that garden waste/felled trees had been fly tipped and that the road had been temporarily closed as a precaution.
“When our contractors, Suez, arrived the debris had already been cleared to the side of the road. They have had to arrange for another contractor to remove the waste later.”
Dave Sperring, Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: “It is truly shocking that anyone would be selfish enough to do this.”
Or short-sighted enough to realise that it would happen?
Simon Walsh, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste, said: “The Council took the decision to clamp down on the illegal commercial use of Recycling Centres for Household Waste, which had been the cause of a huge cost to the taxpayer.
“We have already considerably reduced the amount of commercial waste illegally going to our recycling centres and there is no evidence that improving enforcement has led to an increase in criminal behaviour ...”
Apart from the great big pile of illegally-dumped waste on the front page of the newspaper, you mean?
ReplyDeleteProblem, innit? You can either accept the cost of disposing of this stuff in an orderly fashion, or double the cost by having to clear up fly-tipping.
'Course, you could go to source since we all know who is doing it. But that is beyond the pay grade of most police, who would be promptly disciplined for doing so.
And how do I know who is doing it? Well, at my local recycling centre a van drew up. It was crewed by a man with a distinctive accent and a number of children, who should not have been out of the van at all.
The man and the boys flung all the stuff out of the van in to a pile. They did not attempt to put it in any of the sorting containers, just left it for the site staff to have to deal with. Which they did.
Bad though this is, it is better than them chucking it over the hedge of the nearest farm to cause trouble for wildlife, livestock, farm machinery etc.
The number of minor fly tipping instances has visible increased where I am due to the councils quest for cash. They limit private vehicles as trailer sizes as well to inconvenience the public. I've seen people turned away from the recycling centre and dump their waste just down the road. The cost for sending out a cleanup crew is expensive and imo soon it will not be viable as they are now intending to tighten the screw even more and reduce the main bins to once a month.
ReplyDeleteGreedy, corrupt and inept.
There are a number of "companies" that have moved out of the asphalt business into tree-surgery and landscape gardening. If the council is stopping such "companies" from gaining a competetive advantage by using household waste centres, they should be applauded.
ReplyDeleteIf this leads to fly-tipping, then increase the penalties until it stops, 1st offence a fine equalling the cost of a months fly-tipping clean up for the council or a year in gaol, 2nd offence 25 years gaol or a choice of leaving the country and not returning.
Call it bio-mass. Someone will pay for it, burn it, collect a big subsidy. Problem solved. Planet saved. Honours all round.
ReplyDeleteWhere I live they turn garden waste into fertilizer. Look up the word Tagro. If you live in town you can get so much for free.
ReplyDeleteXX Apart from the great big pile of illegally-dumped waste on the front page of the newspaper, you mean? XX How can you tell the difference from what they normally report and write?
ReplyDeleteMy local council has instituted a scheme where, on proving you live in the area (by showing both a council tax bill and car ownership documentation, though there was some dispute about this among staff at the local recycling centre -- as was the actual start date) they will give you a sticker to put in the front of your car which allows you to take your rubbish to the centre without being questioned.
ReplyDeleteI did say to one member of staff there that I didn't want a sticker with 'approved by the nodumpit numptys of Dumpton-on-Hole council' on my car, and he sympathised. Nor would he. He also said that it would rebound and he was sure, being in the business of waste recycling, that the incidence of fly-tipping at twice the cost of cleaning up would soon start to bother the council.
I know what he means. Near this centre the local railway embankment is littered with old fridges, abandoned televisions and stained mattresses. Even the fences have been broken down to aid greater fly-tipping. I don't know whether it is the duty of Dumpton-on-Hole to clean it up on the railway authorities, but there it sits each day for every traveller to see.
"'Course, you could go to source since we all know who is doing it."
ReplyDeleteAnd if they are tolerates, normal people will think 'Right...'...
"I've seen people turned away from the recycling centre and dump their waste just down the road."
Like this!
"Where I live they turn garden waste into fertilizer."
I like that idea. I have an alternate, though I doubt it makes good fertiliser.
"How can you tell the difference from what they normally report and write?"
ReplyDeleteHeh!
"Near this centre the local railway embankment is littered with old fridges, abandoned televisions and stained mattresses."
Dumped rubbish is a bane and drags an area down faster than a traveller camp.