Horrendous mountain of fly-tipping leaves woman feeling physically sick as hunt for culprits begins
Salford council has urged people to dispose of their waste responsibly after a ‘horrendous’ pile of rubbish was found dumped at a site in the city.
Around 200 tonnes of waste was left at the location on the Cambridge industrial estate in Broughton, and the council has launched an investigation to find the culprits.
It consisted of mattresses, furniture, cardboard, plaster, and general household rubbish that was likely dumped on the land in multiple trips using vans and tipper trucks.
The waste dumped on the land is thought to have come from around Greater Manchester and possibly beyond.
“It makes me feel physically sick and standing where I am, the smell isn’t helping that very much either,” said Councillor Barbara Bentham, the town hall’s lead on neighbourhoods, environment and community safety.
“It’s distressing that this is happening in Salford, it’s horrendous, nobody deserves to have this on their doorstep.”
The council discovered the rubbish after the alarm was raised by people living near the area.
It could end up costing the taxpayer around £44,000 to clear away all the rubbish completely, the council said.
Work has started to shift the items and this is expected to last until the end of January, done by Salford council’s own staff and equipment to keep the costs down.
“Fly-tipping affects the whole country, but this kind of scale isn’t what we normally deal with in Salford, it’s normally a lot smaller,” Coun Bentham added.
“This is not one man and a van, it’s quite obvious to me that this is commercial, our residents deserve to live in streets that are clean and tidy.
“We have residents that work really hard to ensure that’s happening, so it’s really upsetting when this kind of thing comes to light.”
The land where the rubbish was dumped is owned by the council and secured by fencing.
The culprits who left the waste went to ‘extreme lengths’ to access the site, moving huge boulders at the gate which were put in place to stop vehicles entering.
Netting was also placed around the fencing by the fly-tippers in order to hide what they were doing.
Since the enormous pile was found, the council has ramped up security with CCTV monitoring, removing netting placed around the fence, and new and larger obstacles at the entrance.
Coun Bentham said residents can do their bit to help stop fly-tipping by using registered waste carriers.
Many councils including Salford also offer a bulky waste collection service.
Coun Bentham said: “It’s really important if you are getting rid of waste from your property that you do so in a way that’s authorised and licensed.
“It’s quite apparent to me that this is a commercial operation, it’s quite likely that this is unlicensed waste carriers who are offering to remove people’s household waste on the cheap.
“If you’re approached or you contact somebody who offers to take your waste for a reduced cost, always check, because ultimately you may be responsible if it’s not disposed of in the correct manner.
“We are still investigating [this site], we are going through checking our CCTV footage and we will not hesitate to prosecute.
“In the last five years Salford has prosecuted 50 people, and we’ve issued over 131 fines for illegal activity and fly-tipping. We do take this very seriously and we will do everything in our power to put a stop to this.
“If you don’t want to see this on your doorstep, you need to take some responsibility for how you dispose of your waste.”