Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
FURY AT THE FLYTIPPERS
Family slam litter louts after access blocked
Angry householders have hit out at flytippers who blocked off the access road to their home with huge gp piles of g garden waste – and say it c could have proved to be a huge danger in an emerg emergency situation.
Sandra and Tom Fleming Fle were away from their pr property for an overnight when they were sent pictures of its private p access road with huge c clods of mud, wood and sackloads sacklo of rubbish strewn across it it. It took hard work ranging ra from moving some items with a van and u using a strimmer to cut a widened route alon along the ver verge to allow them back in when they came home. And they told how the problem is a perennial one not only in their immediate area but across the Faskine and Woodhall estate and nearby Calderbank.
The couple’s home of nearly 40 years is accessed via a private road off Sykeside Road, which also serves a farm and phone mast access as well as domestic properties.
Sandra told the Advertiser: “There’s always been flytipping – we’ve had everything over the years, with things like a bedstead, microwave, fish pond and rabbit hutch, as well as copious household rubbish, food, nappies and garden items.
“On this occasion we were away for the weekend and saw photos of what had been dumped, which meant the postman hadn’t been able to gain access.
“If we’d been in and required the emergency services, nobody would have been able to access the road – what if someone was taken ill or one of the houses went on fire, and this was the situation just through laziness?
“This dumping blocked off the road access and caused potential danger. It’s not just about the inconvenience. It sounds dramatic but it could be life or death if you can’t get emergency vehicle access.”
Sandra added: “This must have been from someone getting garden work done, as there were big grass sods, wood, and sacks. This is just off Sykeside Road. People must have witnessed it.
“My son has a van and managed to push back some of it, and we had to cut at the verge with strimmers so that you could get in and out with a car.
“There’s a phone mast down
this road and they wouldn’t have been able to get in, and nor would a bin lorry.”
Sandra and Tom told how flytipping is a regular occurrence and added: “The council say they don’t have to lift items which are left on a private road as they don’t own it, but neither do we. What we have is a right of access.
“It’s disgusting what people leave, and it’s just trying to get across to people that doing something like this is dangerous.”
A spokesperson for Nor th Lanarkshire Council said: “We understand the residents’ frustration at the flytipping, which is an increasing issue in communities across Scotland.
“There is no excuse for flytipping, which is a criminal offence, and we will pursue flytippers where we have evidence.
“We regularly remove tonnes of rubbish from council land, using resources that would be better spent on providing vital local services. Where flytipping occurs on privately-owned land, it is the responsibility of the landowner to remove it.
“Residents can help us tackle flytipping by contacting us with information, such as vehicle registration details, if they see incidents.”