Councillors call for action at Orton fly-tipping hotspots - including one outside a Peterborough primary school

Two Peterborough city councillors have called for action over two of the worst fly-tipping hotspots in the city.

Two huge piles of waste have appeared in the Ortons – one outside Leighton Primary School in Orton Malborne, and one in a wooded area at the back of Brudenell in Orton Goldhay.

Now city councillors have called for action to be taken to not only clear the waste, but for measures to be introduced to prevent it re-appearing.

The Peterborough Telegraph joined cllr Heather Skibsted, who represents the Orton Longueville ward, and fellow Green Party councillor Nicola Day, who represents the Orton Waterville ward, to see the problems first hand.

"The school doesn’t want to be spending money clearing fly-tipping, it needs to be spent on children at the school”

The huge pile of waste outside Leighton Primary included mattresses, furniture and other household waste. Along with the largest pile, there were also other fly-tips, made up of garden waste, broken plastic and other items.

Speaking at the corner of a green space outside the school, cllr Skibsted said: “This has been a hotspot for fly-tipping some time now, probably for several years.

"This pile has continued to grow. We have fly-tipping across the field, and around the perimeter of the school.

"Unfortunately the land is owned by different people, so it has been a problem about how to remove it. The main pile is on school land – the school have the problem that when they get it cleared, it comes back straight away, and it all comes out of their budget. This is a huge problem, because they don’t want to be spending money on clearing fly-tipping, it needs to be spent on children in the school.

"It is also unsightly for the people that live here. Not only are the school very upset by it, and the fact the children have to see it every day, but also the residents are complaining about it, and it not being cleared for a long time.”

"I’d like to see more CCTV if that was possible – certainly for hotspots like this"

The day after The Peterborough Telegraph visited the site with the two councillors, work was done to clear the waste – but cllr Skibsted said work now needed to be done to ensure the fly-tipping doesn’t return – again.

When asked what measures she would like to see put in place to prevent the space being used as a fly-tip, cllr Skibsted said: “I have had a multi agency meeting with the council, with Cross Keys Homes, police, enforcement – however, it is about who is going to take responsibility for the whole area.

"I’d like to see more CCTV if that was possible – certainly for hotspots like this. I do think we need some strong signage – there is nothing around here. There was a suggestion that children at the school made some posters, which is a good idea. There has also been a suggestion about education, which clearly also needs to happen.

"But we need to clear this area and make it clear this is not an area for people to dump their waste.”

A spokesperson for PCC said: "We are aware of fly-tipping being an issue in this location and a multi-agency site meeting was held recently to look at measures to help tackle the problem.

“Following this meeting, we continue to consider ways to help prevent and enforce against fly-tipping in this area, as well as educating residents about issues associated with fly-tipping.

“In the meantime, we would encourage anyone to report fly-tipping to us online at www.peterborough.gov.uk”

A spokesperson for Cross Keys Homes said: “We were made aware of this as a problem area recently and have since been completing regular visits to remove fly-tipping. We do share the land with PCC and the school but wherever possible we will remove all the waste we can regardless of where it is found. We also report the problem to PCC to ensure they are aware of it, given it relates to their land.

“We already offer a bulky waste removal service to residents for a small fee, and we are keen to work collaboratively with PCC, residents, and local councillors to implement deterrents and support the local community to understand their waste management options. Importantly, Residents with evidence of who is leaving the fly-tipping should report this to us and PCC so we can consider legal action.”

“Because this is covered from public view, it has almost become like a landfill"

After seeing the dumped waste outside Leighton, cllr Day took us to Orton Goldhay, to see the fly-tip near Brudenell – which she said was ‘like a landfill.’

Cllr Day said the spot had been a major issue in recent weeks – and the pile was being added to on a regular basis.

She said: “We have been doing lots of door knocking in the local area, and residents said go and have a look at the back field. In Orton we have lots of these areas where there is lots of green space, with lots of trees around it – but unfortunately because this is covered from public view, it has almost become like a landfill, with many people dumping their unwanted bulky waste and other items.

"Not only is it a hazard for wildlife, but also for children, this is an open field, children can come in here and be amongst this rubbish, which is of course incredibly dangerous.”

"I would like to see charges for bulky waste removed for people on Universal Credit"

Cllr Day said there was a need for a different plan to ensure people were able to dispose of large bulky waste items appropriately.

There were already plans on how to clear the dump at Brudenell – with residents urged to come and get involved.

Cllr Day said: “Maybe the answers are that maybe we do have some designated spaces where people can put items to be collected, because that is what we have to do anyway.

"The trouble with this site is that it is not actually owned by the council. We have come up a solution for now. Harry Machin from Peterborough Litter Wombles has kindly agreed to pull a volunteer team together, on May 4 from 10am until 12pm. We will come here, and move this from the non council land and put it in a pile where the council will come and collect it. So there is a solution for this time.

"But this site is not within easy reach of any CCTV cameras, so we really need to get education on board, the community on board, educating people about the dangers of putting some of these waste items in these spaces.

"I would like to see charges for bulky waste removed for people on Universal Credit, or some areas where people can put their rubbish. But there are no easy answers, because this is a continuing issue in areas like this.”

Anyone who wishes to help on May 4 should meet at the junction of Kilham and Brudenell at 10am.