Call grows to reopen tips and combat fly-tipping
HYNDBURN’S council leader and MP have joined a demand for household waste recycling centres to be reopened amid concerns over an increase in fly-tipping.
Lancashire County Council confirmed last week that the gates of its 16 facilities - including those at Whinney Hill and Haslingden - will remain closed for the duration of the current lockdown. They say a trip to the tip does not constitute an essential journey under government guidelines.
But seven out of the eight Labour district council leaders in
Lancashire - including Hyndburn’s Miles Parkinson - have signed a letter to their Conservative county council counterpart Geoff Driver calling on him to reconsider.
The correspondence outlines concerns over the potential for vermin to be attracted to areas where mixed waste is being dumped and asks County Hall to reopen recycling centres in those districts which are most affected by fly-tipping.
South Ribble Borough Council leader Paul Foster said in a separate email to Coun Driver “We can safely collect the waste from residents’ homes, operate supermarkets and other retail outlets - so surely there must be a safe way to reopen the waste recycling centres?”
MP Sara Britcliffe has also written to LCC’s chief executive. In her letter dated April 17 she says: “There has been a serious spike in fly-tipping across the county.
“Waste and recycling centres play a crucial role in the wellbeing of people and the maintenance of public health across the country.”
County Coun Driver said that those calling for the tips to be reopened during the lockdown needed to “reflect on whether they really do care for the NHS - because [protecting the NHS] is why the government introduced the four categories of essential journey”.
He also warned that the police would probably need to be involved with the reopening of the centres when the time does come for them to start accepting waste once more.
“We are not about to facilitate people making non-essential journeys. If the government change their mind and say that [going to the tip] is an essential journey, we will then look to reopen our sites.
“However, people must realise that it will be a mammoth logistical exercise and we will need the police to co-operate, because sadly people don’t respect social distancing when they get into these situations,” said County Coun Driver - adding that there was no excuse for fly-tipping, as ordinary kerbside waste collections are continuing across the county.
The Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued guidance to local authorities advising them that waste recycling centres can remain open if social distancing can be implemented - but stress that human health must be protected at all times.
The county council said last week that it was considering how to reconfigure the sites to ensure the safety of workers and the public once the lockdown is lifted.
Several local authorities in the North West have already reopened - or are intending to reopen - their household waste facilities.