Recycling Use the skips or risk a big fine, council warns
MORE notices warning people they could be fined £50,000 for leaving rubbish out in the wrong way have appeared in Cheltenham.
They have been put up by the borough council at various of its recycling centres in and around the town.
As with a notice displayed in an alleyway off lower High Street, the signs warn that anyone leaving their rubbish incorrectly could be fined up to £50,000.
The alleyway notice, featured in the Echo last month, was aimed at stopping people leaving their rubbish out on the wrong days, whereas the notices at the recycling centres ask residents not to leave waste if the skips are full.
One, in the St James Street Car Park, is headed Polite Notice. It says: “Please ensure that all recyclable items are fully put into the appropriate skip.
“Any waste items left around the skips will be treated as flytipping. If the skip is full, please take your waste to another bring site or back to your home address. The maximum penalty can be a fine up to £50,000 and or six months imprisonment. This skip is for domestic waste only. Business/trade waste must be disposed of via an authorised waste collection company. This area is being monitored.”
The notice angered a Cheltenham
resident, who asked not to be named.
He said: “While I applaud the council for cracking down on people who leave bin bags and wheelie bins in the street, when the refuse collection isn’t due, I can’t help thinking that these notices stuck to the skips are a bit outrageous.
“By their own incompetence, the council seem to be criminalising and demonising innocent citizens, who are doing their bit to save the planet.
“Of course the vast majority of this ‘flytipping’ is going to occur when the skips are stuffed to the gills, with no more room inside them - so why can’t the council empty them more frequently? Couldn’t the council ask their street sweepers, who walk past the skips every day, to alert them if it looks like the skips are almost full?”
A council spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately, we have issues with rubbish being dumped or flytipped around our recycling bank sites and the posters are to bring to people’s attention to the fact that this is a problem and also an offence. We would encourage residents not to leave recycling on the ground by bring banks, however where this occasionally occurs this is generally not considered flytipping - it is black bags and other items that are a problem. We’re continuing to work with our partner Ubico to encourage residents to be more responsible in how they dispose of waste.” robin.jenkins@reachplc.com