Tipping point

Fly tipping in alley behind Belgrave Road, Hathershaw.

LANDLORDS and tenants have been called on to do more to tackle fly-tipping after another shocking grot spot appeared.

Piles of broken furniture and children's toys, a bath filled with debris, rotting Christmas trees, discarded clothes and spewing bags of stinking rubbish are dumped in the alley between Belgrave Road and Meldrum Street in Hathershaw.

Fed-up residents have blamed private tenants and accused the council of not doing enough to clamp down on them and their landlords.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and co-operatives, responded by saying: "We absolutely agree with residents ­- this is disgraceful ­- but we are not a service which drives around the borough picking up after people. With the council's budget being constantly cut, this is not a good way for money to be spent.

"This is why we need everyone to do their bit."

It was after getting no joy with a series of complaints to the council that the resident, who does not want to be identified, contacted the Chronicle. Council clean-up squads moved in within hours to clean up the debris.

The angry resident said: "The alley was full of rubbish ­- it was disgusting. There were fridges, sofas, beds ­- absolutely everything.

"But the tenants don't care as they are only there for six months or 12 months," added the woman, who also hit out at people for not locking the gates at the alley entrances.

"There needs to be someone coming round from Oldham Council and seeing what is happening."

Hathershaw is part of a scheme requiring private landlords in designated areas of Oldham to obtain a licence from the council.

The aim of the Selective Licensing initiative is to improve the management of properties and stop bad landlords blighting areas.

One of the conditions is that landlords must carry out regular checks to ensure that refuse is being disposed of correctly.

But the resident who contacted the Chronicle said that landlords were ignoring the conditions of their licence.

Councillor Brownridge defended the council's record.

"We have completed our investigation and we have found evidence leading us to three different properties. This will help us prosecute those responsible.

"This particular neighbourhood is one of our priority areas. We have issued 19 fixed-penalty notices to people dumping rubbish in alleyways in Hathershaw since June, last year. We have prosecuted one resident for fly-tipping and a landlord in the area was prosecuted for duty of care.

"Our enforcement officers are in the area every day. As well as this, we are continuing our work with landlords through our Selective Licensing scheme to tackle the problem.

Thankfully, the vast majority of residents do not fly-tip but for this problem to go away we need the selfish few to stop."

The council urges residents to report incidents of fly-tipping, with as much evidence as they can, so that they can take action against perpetrators.

To report fly-tipping, call 0161-770 2244 or visit www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200307/street_care_and_cleaning/842/fly_tipping.