What a load of more RUBBISH

SHAMEFUL . . . the flytipping in the alley behind Belgrave Road, Hathershaw, in January

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THESE pictures show the battle Oldham Council is fighting against fly-tipping.

The first featured in the Oldham Chronicle in January after a fed-up resident contacted us to complain about the disgusting state of the alley between Belgrave Road and Meldrum Street in Hathershaw.

Piles of broken furniture and children's toys, a bath filled with debris, rotting Christmas trees, discarded clothes and spewing bags of stinking rubbish were removed by the council.

But when the Chronicle returned recently, it was on the way to becoming just as bad again.

Now the council has again cleaned it ­- and people have again been urged to report those responsible.

One resident, who does not want to be named, has spotted her neighbours dumping in the alley.

"A lot of the houses are rented out and new people are coming in all the time. We see people dumping stuff but they move on and there are new people so it is hard to know who is doing it".

She said that people from elsewhere were also dumping rubbish as residents leave the gates at the end of the alley unlocked.

"When I moved here 13 years ago it was very clean. Now I can't let my sons play out there because of the filth and the rats," she added.

"I can't fault the council, they are on it, but as soon as they clean it people dump stuff there again. I do think it would help if there were cameras."

Another resident said that the council should organise regular clean-up events with residents to get the message across.

"It's not good that people still have this mindset in the 21st century," he added.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Oldham's cabinet member for neighbourhoods and co-operatives, said: "This is disgraceful behaviour and once informed our officers visited and cleared this site.

"But we are not a service which can drive around our borough just picking up waste that people have dumped. With the council's budget being constantly cut, this is not a good way for money to be spent and is not sustainable.

"We feel sorry for the people living near this alley who dispose of their waste properly rather than leaving others to do it for them.

"If anyone does know who is responsible for this eyesore then I'd urge them to get in touch with us.

"This particular neighbourhood is one of our fly-tipping priority areas. We have issued six fixed penalty notices for bagged waste in alleyways and served two enforcement notices for waste in gardens on Belgrave Road in the last 6 months. As well as this, we are continuing our work with landlords through our Selective Licensing scheme to tackle the problem.

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

To report fly-tipping call 0161 770 2244 or visit www.oldham.gov.uk/flytipping.