Residents on a private road in Dorset are worried they’ll have to foot the bill to dispose of an enormous pile of rubbish left overnight by fly-tippers.
Residents on Dover Road in Westbourne, Poole, woke up to the mountain of refuse on Tuesday – but the council still hasn’t cleaned it up.
Residents say they feel overlooked by the council – though some have argued the blame for the 30ft-long, 5ft-high pile of roof insulation lies with the fly-tippers who dumped it in the first place.
Dionne Bell, 55, who lives on the road, acknowledged that residents accepted that living there meant they had no streetlights – as well as shouldering the responsibility for its cleaning and maintenance.
Dionne Bell said the responsibility for cleaning up the litter would lie with residents (stock pic)
PA/Google
Yet Bell said: “But we also all pay council tax – and quite considerable amounts of it. The council washes their hands of it and leaves it for us to deal with.”
“This isn't something we can do because nobody is sure what the material is."
Bell also raised concerns about the cost of removing the litter – and how leaving it there could pose a risk to wildlife.
She said Dover Road is included in a conservation area, with deer living in nearby Branksome Park.
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The well-hidden Dover Road lies in a wealthy suburb of Poole
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said fly-tipping the industrial waste there was “an easy thing to do” because it was relatively well-hidden.
They said: “There are flats opposite but there are lot of trees in the way – you would have to get two minivans to get the stuff in properly.
“People just can't be bothered to go to the tip to chuck stuff away…. A lot of people say it’s the council's fault for charging for industrial waste, but the fault is on the people who do it, there's no two ways about it. It's very thoughtless.”
Both residents have flagged the fly-tipping to the Environment Agency, as well as Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council – but the waste is still there.
Cllr John Challinor said: "I think the quicker it is dealt with, it will act as a deterrent. It's very frustrating for people"
Poole Conservatives
However, environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy says dealing with fly-tipped refuse on private property is the responsibility of the landowner.
John Challinor, a Conservative councillor, said: “It is outrageous – it's not just that it's in a conservation area, fly-tipping is disgusting anywhere and is often done by people who have been paid to remove it and then just dump it.
“It becomes more upsetting for people in conservation areas because you look at the ecology and environment it is in.
“It's a really anti-social thing to do. It would be great if there were better ways of tracking the culprits so they could be held to account.
“We seem to have spates of it, somebody thinks they can get away with it and then someone else sees it and thinks ‘oh, I'll do that too’. I think the quicker it is dealt with, it will act as a deterrent. It's very frustrating for people.”
A BCP Council spokesperson said: “We’re aware of this flytipping and are investigating – Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) have been informed.
“We work in partnership with WISE who investigate and issue fixed penalty notices for littering and fly-tipping etc.”
GB News has approached the Environment Agency for comment.
