Fly-tipping in Ashfield still apparent despite council's '˜Spring Clean'

Several areas of Ashfield have become ‘hot-spots’ for fly-tipping over the last month, primarily in the more rural parts of the district such as on country lanes.

Resident Sue Ellis photographed a large pile of fly-tipped items on Cauldwell Road in Sutton, an area she describes as suffering from the “recurring problem”.

She said: “We have seen a lot of tipping along Coxmoor Road adjacent to the woods and a lot along Cauldwell Road going towards Cauldwell Dam.

“It is a reoccurring problem, no sooner is it cleared up before more is dumped, so I don’t feel the council’s clear up initiative is going that well.

“It may have helped in the town but people seem to think it’s ok to dump more in rural areas.

“For goodness sake they have driven there to dump it, why not drive to the local council waste disposal plant? There is no excuse.”

Council leader Jason Zadrozny made cleaning up Ashfield a priority when becoming leader two months ago, with static skips located across the district throughout May for the disposal of unwanted items.

He insists that cases such as Cauldwell Road are rare and dealt with well by the council.

He said: “The Council has a 0% tolerance when it comes to fly-tipping and in this case we have already responded, secured evidence and identified and confirmed the persons involved and are looking into the appropriate prosecution methods.

“Ashfield has recently seen a 21% year on year reduction in household bagged waste being fly-tipped and we hope that trend will continue across the district with our investment in RIPA powers for more hidden cameras in known hot-spots.”

Ashfield District Council’s ‘Spring Clean’ cost roughly £32,000 to administer, and they insist it was a positive step for the district.