Council chiefs rubbish claim on bin rounds

Fly Tipping Oldham Road, Ree Ming Takeaway

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OLDHAM Council have refuted claims from a food business owner, who is fed up of cleaning other people's waste, that three-weekly bin collections will exacerbate fly-tipping.

Kwok Wong, who owns Ree Ming Takeaway in Oldham Road, was left frustrated when he found rubbish dumped in the alleyway behind his business by someone who he believes missed the bin lorry.

Mr Wong, who says he regularly tends to the alleyway and even brings a lawn mower down to cut the grass, found the waste strewn across the ground in the first of the three weeks before the next collection.

After putting the rubbish in bin bags to keep it together he now fears an honest mistake of missing the bin lorry will cause a panicked reaction with people desperately trying to get rid of their waste elsewhere.

However, Councillor Barbara Brownridge, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and cooperatives, said it was unfair to blame fly-tipping, which was a problem when bins were collected every week, on the three-weekly collection and blamed it on a selfish few.

Although private land, Oldham Council have visited the alleyway, cleared the rubbish and will be looking for evidence to prosecute the culprit.

Mr Wong said: "It was the first week of the three-weekly bin collection and someone has missed the collection and left the rubbish in the alley.

"I have worked very hard to look after the alleyway. It is just annoying that I am trying to run a business and people are fly-tipping near it."

Harsher

He added: "At the end of the day I run the business and I clean what I can but I am just a bit worried about this three-week bin collection because I don't know what it will be like and it is the uncertainty which is worrying."

Furthermore, Mr Wong suggested the council should create harsher punishments for those who are fly tipping in a bid to discourage them.

So far Oldham Council have issued 270 fixed-penalty notices and given 49 fines to people dumping rubbish in alleyways. They have also prosecuted five people for large scale fly-tips and 41 people for littering.

Cllr Brownridge said: "We are aware of the issue on Oldham Road and although this is not on council land we have, on this occasion, visited the site and cleared the rubbish. If we find evidence leading us to the culprit we will prosecute them.

"It is not fair to blame the recent changes to bin collections for this mess. The small minority, in Oldham and other towns, still fly-tipped when bins were collected every week."

She added: "We appreciate Mr Wong doing his bit for Oldham and clearing some of the rubbish himself. We are just as disgusted as he is with the mess that was left behind. It comes at a cost to the taxpayer every time someone fly-tips.

"The problem only goes away if the selfish few stop dumping their rubbish like this ­- we urge people to let us know if they have information."