Bid for free bulky waste collection scheme to help fight fly-tipping in Hartlepool

Calls have been made for council chiefs to look at providing a free bulky waste collection service for each area of Hartlepool to help tackle fly-tipping.
The fly-tipped waste in Lime Crescent, Hartlepool.The fly-tipped waste in Lime Crescent, Hartlepool.
The fly-tipped waste in Lime Crescent, Hartlepool.

Councillors on Hartlepool Borough Council Neighbourhood Services discussed ways in which the area could tackle the issue, which has been increasing in recent months.

Council officers reported the estimated cost of clearing fly-tipping in 2019/20 was £233,000 and over the past five years is more than £1.1million.

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They added 2,107 incidents of fly-tipping were recorded in 2019, and the number for January to September 2020 has already exceeded this, with 2,593 reports.

Cllr Christopher Akers-Belcher raised a motion to look at introducing a pilot free bulky waste collection scheme, one per ward, within the budget for 2021/22.

He said he had previously run a bulky waste scheme in his ward, using his ward member budget, and it was well received by residents and could help reduce fly-tipping.

He said: “We have a general fund and we should be doing what we are elected to do and providing a service that our residents want.”

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The issue will be referred to the finance and policy committee to be considered as part of next year’s budget proposals, after being unanimously backed by councillors on the committee.

Cllr Marjorie James, who seconded the calls, said the collection would involve people leaving items outside in designated spots to be picked up in an efficient way by the council on a ward by ward basis.

She added she also used to run a bulky waste collection service using her ward budget and it proved a success with residents, and is worth investing in, given the costs of fly-tipping.

She said: “I think it’s important that we don’t just ignore the need of residents to have access to a free bulky waste service.

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“It was well received, it was not abused and it made a lot of difference. It got a lot of that rubbish that would just have ended up in streets and on green areas.

“If we’re already spending a quarter of a million pound removing the stuff, better to spend another £10,000 or £20,000 even to actually have an attempt at doing this.”

She suggested the bulky waste collections could be carried out once a year in each ward, taking place between April and October.

Other suggestions for how to help tackle fly-tipping in the town included linking up with partner organisations, including Thirteen, who run ‘flash your trash’ events to encourage residents to get rid of larger items.

Cllr Amy Prince said: “They took away quite a lot of waste and for a good couple of weeks afterwards there was less fly-tipping in the area.”

Cllr Sue Little also called for more to be done to raise awareness of discounts available with the council’s existing bulky waste collection service.

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Hartlepool has a bulky waste collection service where residents who have bulky waste can have up to three items collected and disposed of for £20, however the fee is reduced to £10 for those on low income.

Cllr Little said: “I think we need to do more publications on how low income families can have three items moved for £10. I don’t see that anywhere so I think that needs to be in big black bold letters."

She added: “I must report god knows how many fly-tippings a week. We must have the cleanest beds in the country in Hartlepool because I always see at least three mattresses a week being dumped in side streets or in open green spaces and industrial estates.”

Cllr John Tennant, who chaired the meeting, said a lot of work is being done by the council to tackle the issue, but warned of the costs of some initiatives.

He said: “There’s lots of different things we can look at over the course of the next 12 months in order to make some kind of facilities available to residents.

“But we do have to take into account the fact that as an authority, because of the difficult pandemic that we’re going through, we are financially stretched.”

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