named shamed
COVENTRY’S WORST AREAS FOR FLY-TIPPING REVEALED
THREE wards in Coventry have been named and shamed as accounting for almost half of the city’s fly-tipping offences.
Fly-tipping has increased in the city over the last 12 months from 3,342 incidents in 2016/17 to 4,704 in 2017/18.
St Michael’s, Foleshill and Upper Stoke are the worst offending wards, with the areas proving a “challenge” for officers.
Speaking at the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board earlier this month, Craig Hickin, head of environmental services, said: “Fly-tipping doesn’t affect the whole city proportionally.
“It is suffered in three wards in particular which accounts for virtually half of the city’s problem. That is St Michael’s, Foleshill and Upper Stoke .
“They are probably the most economically challenged wards in the city.
“They are the area with the less neighbourhood feel and they also have people from various different backgrounds from different countries. When people come to the UK they tend to bring the culture that they came with which is not necessarily the culture we want particularly around fly-tipping. “People are less likely to put their heads above the parapet and less likely to be witnesses to what is going on in their area, so it does make things more difficult.” The council has recently introduced a programme called Clean Streets, focusing on the three wards to help educate people on how to dispose of their waste legally. Waste collection services were amalgamated into the Street Enforcement Team in February 2016 as a result of £2.5 million council savings. Mr Hickin said this has resulted in the loss of 10 “experienced officers”, with the changes proving “difficult”. Ward councillor for St Michael’s, David Welsh, added: “It doesn’t look great but we knew it was coming anyway as we’ve lost a lot of people. “With the constraints and the amount of money we have got I think we are doing pretty well.”
It is suffered in three wards in particular which accounts for virtually half of the city’s problem. Craig Hickin