South Leamington residents blast 'shameful state' of waste collection and fly tipping enforcement as rubbish piles up on the streets in their area

Residents in South Leamington are raising grave concerns about the ‘ongoing problem’ of rubbish being dumped on the streets in the area daily.

Prior to the meeting of Warwick District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee this week, members of SoLAR (South Leamington Area Residents) provided councillors with photos highlighting the issues.

SoLAR have pointed out that these problems are particularly bad “in neighbourhoods with large numbers of HMOs, and of wheelie bins, often misallocated to properties without storage space, permanently left out on-street or in doorways, obstructing access for residents and pedestrians”.

Group members have also submitted CCTV evidence of fly tippers caught in the act.

A spokesman for SoLAR said: “Contract Services confirmed the halving of the fly tipping rapid response capacity to a single vehicle, that the number of enforcement actions or fixed penalties in the last year was zero for both, and that there was no current resource for any waste enforcement.

“These figures are an outlier compared to DEFRA’s national local authority figures of 50 per cent of fly tips resulting in enforcement action and nine per cent fixed penalties.

"In Warwick district currently, fly tipped black bags with rotting food spilling out can remain uncollected on pavements for up to three weeks, attracting further fly tipping and the attention of vermin.

"Many residents are now giving up reporting incidents due to ‘reporting fatigue’ resulting from the lack of any action.

“But neither officers nor councillors displayed any sense of urgency about getting to grips with this public health issue.

"No plans were announced in the short term and, longer term, action to investigate, deter and take legal action against the perpetrators must wait until an officer, hopefully with some relevant experience, joins the council in the autumn.

"The fact remains that the council has no capacity to investigate fly tips let alone to pursue enforcement action.

“Uncollected fly tips left for weeks on the pavements are a very public manifestation of a breakdown in council services - this is a shameful state of affairs.”

In response, Warwick District Council has said: “Warwick District Council recognises the issues raised by SoLAR.

"Plans are now in place to strengthen enforcement and education around fly tipping and the district’s waste and recycling collection service in partnership with Warwick University.”

The University of Warwick, which has a large number of students occupying HMOs in the south of Leamington, has said it will do its bit to mitigate the problem.

Ben Hayday, community partnerships manager at the university said: “We work in partnership with WDC, especially because some of our students choose to make their home in Leamington.

"We’re clear with our students on their responsibilities as they begin to live independently and are pleased to contribute to WDC for an officer to further help everyone uphold their responsibilities to their community.”