Early on Tuesday morning I had an unexpected hour or so spare before I made my way into county hall for one of several meetings scheduled for this week.
Given the spare time I took the opportunity to have a look around the streets to check on the condition of some of the back yards after I’d received reports from residents recently about fly-tipping at unsecured properties. Most of the yards I wanted to check up on had been reported previously for the owner/landlord to clear, and progress has been made with one or two of them.
All the properties I visited are privately-owned, currently empty, and in most cases left wide open to access by fly-tippers.
While I was out on the streets I noticed there were two yards where the rubbish remained, despite calls for the owner to clear it away, and another yard where additional fly-tipping had occurred since my previous reports. These persistent kind of incidents are a particular concern for residents because if the owner or landlord fails to clear the yard quickly the rubbish left behind can attract vermin - especially if there’s food waste among the litter. And of course there’s the added problem of fire risk, particularly where rubbish is piled high against the wall of the property. I’ve passed these latest incidents to the council for referral to the landlord or owner.
In addition to reporting these latest issues I’ll also raise them with the Community Action Team (CAT) which is currently in the village carrying out a targeted 11-week programme focusing mainly on issues of this nature.
Stacey and I will be joining the team next week on an extended street walkabout to track progress on previously reported issues, and also to identify other yards and properties that are causing concern. Full details of the CAT project can be found in this link: Community Action Team project in Blackhall Colliery
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| Middle Street |
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| Middle Street |
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| Eighth Street |
