£314,000 annual bill to tackle fly-tip menace

A fly-tipping grot spot which contributes to £314,00 annual bill

OLDHAM taxpayers fork out £314,000 a year to clear up after fly-tippers.

The council has a hard-line policy against fly-tippers, using mobile CCTV cameras at fly-tipping hot-spots, and prosecuting those responsible.

In the year up to February, 2009, 1,142 tons of waste were dumped on public land across the borough which the council had to move.

It costs £84 a ton to drop it at Greater Manchester waste disposal sites, added to which were vehicle and staffing costs which totted up to more than £300,000.

The issue was raised at last week’s meeting of the Economic and Prosperity Select Group Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

It was highlighted in a report on derelict land and vacant property which often act as a magnet to fly-tippers.

Councillors want to see plots of derelict land throughout the borough turned into pleasant grassy areas, and are trying to enlist voluntary groups and residents to adopt a plot.

Committee chairman Councillor Alan Roughley said in the report that it would cost several millions of pounds to tackle the entire list of Oldham’s derelict sites, and suggested the work be done over at least five years.

He said £500,000 a year would grass between 25 and 50 acres, which would improve up to eight miles of streets, and such costs could be absorbed by the parks department.

Other action to dissuade fly-tippers includes fencing off derelict land, more use of CCTV cameras and enforcement action, and promoting both Bulky Bobs free collection service and household rubbish sites.