Dumped in a field gateway: the remnants of somebody's life
Note the bag of coat hangers amongst the smashed furniture
The entire content of a home seems to be here
Next time you give something to one of the jolly tat-men who seem to proliferate the streets these days, or hire that handy bloke with a van (but no MOT) from that card in the newsagent’s window, think on this. Whilst cycling down Whitacre lane in Sandhills yesterday, I came upon this dreadful sight. Flytipped in a field gateway, secluded by a small copse and well out of view, the remnants of a house clearance dumped illegally. The dumped items seem to be almost the complete contents of the flat of an older person, from bags of wooden coat-hangers to a sofa and cutlery. The material was clearly dumped from an open truck, as it surrounds the sides and rear of a vehicle sized space, and the gate has been propped open with an old tire.
Did you pay some chancer to clear out Grannies flat? Did it enter your mind to consider why they did it for fifty quid in cash? Ever wonder what happens to the plastic bits on the fridge you just gave to the tatters? It all gets dumped like this. These people are operating illegally, have no morals and are trashing our back lanes and laybys to make the price of a pint. Not far away, in Gravelly Lane, there’s a dumped pallet of asbestos roofing. Elsewhere, I saw old cookers, domestic refuse and piles of rubble, all discarded by the pond scum that evolved in the shallow end of our gene-pool.
When you call people in to remove waste or carry out work on your property, check they have a waste transfer licence. Use real companies, with a published address – or go to the local tip… there’s identifying material in this heap, and not only the tippers will be prosecuted, but the people who hired them. It’s a prosecutable offence to give rubbish or scrap to an unlicensed operator, whatever the circumstances.
I’ve reported this on the excellent fixmystreet.com who have notified the appropriate council. I recommend you do the same for any such tipping you see. It’s easy and free.
People make excuses for this behaviour, they say the tips are too restrictive, that commercial waste should be free, and all kinds of other justifications for those who would defecate in their own drinking water. There is a simpler explanation; these people are the dregs of society, with no respect for their environment, for others, or the law. They’re lower than a snake’s knees and don’t deserve to live among civilised human beings.
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Absolutely right BB and well done for spotting it, photographing it and reporting it. I hope they throw the book at all of them involved. Naming and shaming on the front page of the local paper with a hefty fine and in the case of the asbestos a prison sentence would be appropriate here.
I agree with your estimation of the people that do this: however, I also think that the official route of disposal should be easier, simpler, and cheaper, and then the punishments should be unbelievably severe. Give the scum no excuse, and punish them viciously if they continue to avoid doing the right thing.
A short tale: over 10 years ago now, the Stymistress and myself were sorting out our garden. We discovered loads of bricks and slabs buried, and took them to the council site in a small trailer, towed behind my very obviously not-a-builder VW Golf. We got told we’d need a trade permit after a couple of loads. This is a late-20s couple, in a Golf, with a tiny trailer. I was furious- I pay council tax, and I was doing the right thing- I could have saved some petrol and dumped the stuff in Green Lane- and got hassled for it.
Flytipping is common on one of my routes to work (around Barr Beacon/Great Barr), and there’s been asbestos sheets there too. To be fair, I’ve reported it to Walsall MBC and they’ve been very quick sorting it out.
Good work, and thanks for that link to FixMyStreet. Keep it up, Mr Bob, I do enjoy your blog (a Pelsallian at present overseas).
Cross Turf island on the A5 heading to Cannock and take the next left. Or what used to be the next left, School Lane. I say used to be because the road is now closed. Why? Because of fly tipping on such a scale the lane was impassable to anything larger than a push bike more often than it was clear.
It must have been the number one destination for flatbed Transits with greedy boards in the area. The council (Cannock Chase) instead of tackling the issue, using those powers of surveillance we hear about being used to persecute people putting the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin bottled it and took the easy way out.
Now the road is officially blocked to traffic but still perfectly serviceable as dump.
Bob, I agree with you completely – these people are scum and the only thing to do with flytippers and suchlike is hit them with the full force of the law.
I encourage folk to report anything they see to Walsall Council, wherever they are in the borough. The same goes in other areas, don’t assume someone else has reported it.
To the Council, I say also: wherever Jobsworths or poor policy form a blockage to legal tipping, please do something about it, and don’t wait till you have a complaint to do so. Get the job right, and respect will be yours.
– The Forrener
As I said in my earlier comment, one of my routes to work is frequently targeted by the scum, so I was pleased today, when I had a good look at a white van parked in a gateway next to a pile of rubbish and saw it was a Walsall MBC van, pesumably checking it or clearing it up. As I said, they usually sort it out quickly- pity they need to though.
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