Road is a fly-tipping eyesore as rubbish left weekly
A ROAD in Cardiff has become a hotspot for illegal fly-tipping, with mounds of rubble, rubbish and household items being dumped in the same spot every week.
Despite being a busy road, residents said that Cobol Road, St Mellons, has been a persistent target for the offence, with items being dumped almost every weekend for more than six months.
Located near St Mellons Industrial park, the one-way road is used to connect Marshfield to St Mellons.
One resident, who wanted to be known only as Lynnette, has been documenting the fly-tipping since April and said the problem has gotten much worse in recent months.
She said that almost every week the road is littered with mattresses, rubble, household items and strewn with rubbish.
“It’s been going on for months and months now and just keeps getting worse,” she said.
“I’ve noticed it especially since lockdown. It’s always at the top end, always on the weekends.
“It’s just so frustrating, whoever is doing it clearly thinks they can do what they like and keep getting away with it. It’s gotten to the point now where we need CCTV.”
Lynette, who lives near the road, said she walks along it daily and reports every incident to her local councillor.
She has also captured shocking videos showing the extent of the problem, which has been going on since around April this year.
“I think it does get worse when the recycling centres are closed but this is the worst its ever been,” she added.
“There’s no lighting along that road and it’s always dumped in the middle of the road.
“This weekend somebody damaged their car because they were driving along there and didn’t see the rubble.
“The road is very much used and can get quite busy, but now you have to be careful going through there.
“It’s just an accident waiting to happen,” said Lynnette.
“There’s always a mattress dumped, but as well there’s been building materials, landscaping materials, a car engine, trees and general rubbish.
“Once there was a big bag of concrete dumped in the middle of the road left to go hard.”
Michael Michael, councillor for Trowbridge and cabinet member for clean streets, recycling and environment, said the council was aware of the problem and will “not excuse any form of fly-tipping”.
He said: “There are a few places across our ward which seem to be persistent targets for fly-tipping.
“We have put covert cameras in some of the plots, which seems to be tackling the issue. The fly-tipping here is persistent and we will take whatever steps necessary to deal with it.
“We will not excuse any form of fly-tipping. To me, it is unnecessary and there is absolutely no excuse for it.”
A spokesman for Cardiff Council said: “The council is working closely with key stakeholders and Natural Resources Wales to review evidence across the areas of concern to support successful prosecutions.”