Call to residents after increase in fly-tipping

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A COUNCILLOR has urged people to report fly-tipping after she noted 38 examples in a small area of Huddersfield in just a month.

Clr Jo Lawson reported the fly-tipping to Kirklees Council but said the authority doesn’t appear to be as speedy at dealing with it as it once was, probably due to cutbacks.

She said various streets in her ward had been used to dump rubbish, including fridge freezers and black bin bags. And she urged people not to use unregistered people to take away their rubbish. Parts of Crosland Moor and Thornton Lodge have a particular problem, it is claimed.

“A lot of it is household rubbish. I get the strong impression the fly-tipping team (at Kirklees Council) don’t have the staff they did have.”

Clr Lawson, who represents the Crosland Moor and Netherton ward, said fly-tipping was a longstanding problem in the area, but was probably more noticeable due to the time it was taking for it to be removed.

She shared a number of photos of the problem with the Examiner and urged members of the public to report instances of fly-tipping to the council.

The photos show rubbish between College Street and Everard Street in Crosland Moor. Her colleague, Clr Imran Safdar, also reported rubbish in a play area at Yews Hill Road and at Moorbottom Road, Thornton Lodge.

Clr Lawson urged householders who use a third-party to dispose of their waste to check if they have a valid waste carriers licence.

A Kirklees council spokesman said: “The council are currently receiving an increased number of fly-tipping reports in Kirklees and our teams continue to investigate and clear the blight of dumped waste as soon as possible.

“We won’t hesitate to issue fixed penalty notices and prosecute when necessary.

“We also investigate reports of flytipping on private land, however, it remains the sole responsibility of the landowner to clear the waste in these cases.

“We ask anyone who witnesses or spots fly-tipping to report it to the council online www.kirklees.gov.uk/ reportit. ”