Petitions submitted pursuant to Standing Order 36 in relation to matters falling within the Committee’s Powers & Duties which have been received by Head of Legal & Democratic Services no later than four clear working days before the meeting.

Gary Stocking-Williams presented a petition in the following terms:

Trade Waste Bins On Amity Road

Since the trade waste bins (belonging to up to 4 London Road shops) appeared on Amity Road they have been a magnet for fly tipping. They often look disgusting with black bags on the road and pavement. In the recent past there were no bins on the road or pavement and there was far less fly tipping. Please work with the businesses to get the trade waste bins back onto private land.

RESPONSE by Councillor Barnett-Ward (Lead Councillor for Neighbourhoods):

Thank you for your question and for the petition.

The Council takes every report it receives about littering and fly-tipping seriously and is committed to reducing the instance of environmental crime and taking robust enforcement action against those who blight local communities in this way.  This is clearly demonstrated by the creation of the Recycling and Enforcement Team who, despite Covid restrictions, have issued over 350 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) for dumped waste and secured 17 successful prosecutions since its formation in November 2019.

Officers from the team monitor the area around the Amity Road trade waste bins on a regular basis and 7 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s ) have been issued to those who we found to be responsible.  Officers have also been in regular contact with the businesses to remind them of their legal duty of care to manage their waste responsibly, to ensure that they are aware that all waste must be contained within the bins, and that any waste that is found around the bins will be investigated as fly tipping.  To try and deter fly tippers ‘No Flytipping’ signs which display the maximum penalty for such offences have been put up and further information signs are currently being designed which will re-enforce the message.

The location and layout of the properties and the space available limits the options for storing these trade waste bins, which have been in situ for several years. There are many factors that have been considered regarding siting the bins elsewhere, including:

• Many shops are food premises, so a sack collection would not be appropriate for these businesses;

·      Some businesses do not have rear access, which means they do not have any land to place the bins on;

·      The current use of private land to the rear of the shops including the alleyway and the condition of the surfaces, and their suitability for collection crews to move heavy 1100l bins over safely;

·      Collections from flats and residential properties;

·      Proximity of businesses to the Highway on London Road.

Officers will carry out further work to try to identify alternative siting options, which will need to be practical for businesses as well as the local community.  We hope to complete the further assessment and contact the lead petitioner by the end of January with our valuation.