Work will stop flytipping hotspot being an eyesore

Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123655009Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123655009
Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123655009

Peterborough City Council will work with the landowners of the field on Oxney Road after waste including vans, cars and gas cylinders were left littering the site over the past year.

But now works are being planned to try and prevent vehicles being driven onto the land to stop it remaining an eyesore.

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Station Commander Wayne Swales, from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue service and deputy head of the SaferPeterborough Prevention and Enforcement Service, said: “Officers last met with the agents for the landowners in December to discuss a long-term solution to prevent fly-tipping on the site.

Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009
Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009

“The works discussed included multiple solutions such as the construction of an earth bund around the site alongside deeply ploughing the field to prevent future access, and in particular to stop vehicles being left abandoned.

“The agents are currently discussing this action plan with the landowners and a further meeting is now set for this month to confirm the plan and set timescales for works.

“All works will be at the cost of the landowner.”

A number of the vans and cars left at the site at the moment have been in situ for more than two months, having been photographed on the field at the beginning of November.

Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009
Land next to the Oxney Road traverllers site covered in rubbish EMN-161231-123707009
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In November, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue service said fires at the site were ‘putting lives at risk.’

In a letter from Station Commander Swales to Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson, seen by the Peterborough Telegraph, it is thought a plan will be completed by the end of the month, with work to begin in February.

Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson said “I think local people have reached the end of their tether as regards the degradation of this piece of land which is a major local eyesore and I think it’s good news that the agencies responsible are putting in place measures to clean up this site, stop future vehicle access and fly tipping, as part of a wider environmental crime strategy. The travellers on Oxney Road are aware that they are expected to abide by this strategy and must take responsibility for their actions.

“I will be supporting the efforts of Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue to get the area cleaned up by mid-January if possible.”

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Savills are acting as an agent for the landowner, and a spokesman for the estate agents said: “Fly tipping is an issue across the country in both rural and urban fringe locations. Savills are working with Peterborough City Council in relation to the fly tipping off the Oxney Road, Peterborough to seek resolution to the issue.”

The cost to remove cars sits at £540

In August this year the Peterborough Telegraph reported that Peterborough City Council would foot the bill for the site to be cleared of the burnt out cars and other waste which had been dumped there.

It would normally cost a landowner £60 to remove one vehicle from private land, if they contacted the city council to carry out the job - meaning it would cost £540 to remove all the cars dumped there at the time. A council spokesman said it would be paying for the clearance, due to ‘exceptional circumstances’ and said it would be working with the landowner to provide a permanent solution to prevent it happening again.

A week after the nine cars were removed, three more wrecked cars appeared in their place.

More cars were seen on the field in November - and piles of gas cylinders and fire extinguishers were also spotted.