A MATTRESS, disused kitchen appliances and piles of bin bags are among the most recent items to litter the streets of Adamsdown, as fly tipping continues.
A single-bed mattress was found today in an alleyway off Oakfield Street, in the northeast of Adamsdown.
Tweet from Filthy Adamsdown about the mattress dumped on Oakfield Street.
Rubbish and recycling bags were left out in Nora Street yesterday and last Tuesday, when full recycling sacks were left piled outside a garage.
Rubbish and recycling bags were also left out in Nora Street yesterday, as well as last Tuesday, when full recycling sacks were left piled outside a garage.
Adam Lloyd-Binding, Centre Co-ordinator at the Rubicon Dance Centre on Nora Street, has been reporting incidents of fly tipping every week for the last three months.
Some of the refuse sacks that Adam has reported in the last week.
Credit: Rubicon Dance
He said: “Fly tipping has been a persistent problem in Adamsdown for the last three years or more.
“The problem is twofold, as there are some local residents who just throw rubbish bags out into the street whenever they are full, but the council has failed in its obligation to educate residents about when bin collections are.
“I think council enforcement officers need to make themselves more visible in the area, and to follow up when residents report fly tipping incidents. Adamsdown and Splott are neglected, this wouldn’t be a problem in more affluent areas of the city.”
Local resident, and former Lib Dem Councillor John Dixon, who reported the dumped mattress this morning, reports fly tipping every week via FixMyStreet, a website that records the place and time of each incident and informs the local council.
Also reported by Mr Dixon were two incidents on Meteor Street and Constellation Street on October 23 where black bin bags and recycling sacks were left outside of the front of houses.
System Street has also been affected by the recent spate of fly tipping, when kitchen appliances including two fridge-freezers were dumped on October 20.
The Filthy Adamsdown Twitter account posted a tweet about uncollected “white goods” on October 23
Mr Dixon’s former colleague, councillor Nigel Howells, said: “Fly tipping is a scourge on our area and the council should be doing more to stamp it out.”
He believes that fly tipping could be prevented through better enforcement and prosecution, better education for residents about when litter collection times are, and the scrapping of the bulky waste collection fee.
Residents can currently pay a fee to the council for the removal of heavy household goods including furniture and kitchen appliances, with fees varying from £12.50 for one or two items, £25.00 for three or four items or £37.50 for five or six items.
Cardiff Council has defended these charges, which they say cover the costs of staff and vehicles used to collect the bulky goods. And later this year the council plans to introduce free collection of household goods that can be recycled or reused.
Black bags and other dumped waste on Nora Street.
Credit: Rubicon Dance
Some Adamsdown residents are making their own efforts to clean the streets of litter.
A group called Keep Adamsdown Tidy organised a litter pick in Brewery Park, next to Nora Street, on August 31 and plans to hold more in the near future.
Gwenda Owen, chair of the Penylan and Adamsdown Labour Party, helped to create the group alongside Communities First, Keep Cardiff Tidy, Cardiff Council staff members and local volunteers.
She said: “The aim of the litter picks are to engage the local community in solving the problems of litter and fly tipping as well as making Adamsdown a nicer place to spend time in.”
Cardiff Council is bringing its Love Where You Live Campaign to Adamsdown next week and is holding a “neighbourhood blitz” to clean up streets in the area.
Coun Bob Derbyshire, the council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, said: “If anyone witnesses fly tipping in their community, we advise that you don’t make contact with those who are carrying it out but take details of the time, location and the registration details of the vehicle and report it to the council at the earliest opportunity.”
He added: “We are taking a very firm line on this, with covert cameras being installed and surveillance increasing. The message to those who continue to ruin the environment that we all live in is, stop or face court action with a possible fine of up to £50,000 or six months imprisonment.”
Cardiff residents can check the time and date of bin collections in their area on Cardiff Council’s website.
Information about the Love Where You Live campaign can be found here.
