Calls for collaboration to combat fly-tipping in hotspot Peterborough ward

Around 50 people including residents, farmers, parish councillors, police and NFU representatives attended a fly-tipping meeting in Eye on August 7.

The meeting, held at Leeds Hall, was organised by Peterborough city councillors of the Eye, Thorney and Newborough wards and offered people the chance to speak directly with council officers.

These included Charlotte Palmer (service director for environment and climate change), Clair George (head of safer communities) and Darren Sharpe (natural and historic environment manager).

Eye, Thorney and Newborough ward councillor Mark Ormston, who helped to organise the meeting, felt it was a positive meeting that each party benefited from.

He said: “I think what residents mainly wanted to get across was their concerns around the pure volume [of fly-tipping] and not seeing action off the back of it.

“They wanted that reassurance and comfort that there is a team of people going through the fly-tip properly to identify and track these people back.”

Cllr Ormston said people also raised concerns over a lack of understanding around waste licences and recycling centre opening times.

“There was quite a lot that people did learn from the officers’ responses,” he said.

“There was a lot of detailed discussion from farmers and NFU reps, particularly around boundaries.

“Not only that, but there’s a real desire to work with the council to come to some sort of agreement of how to clean these things up at some sort of discounted rate so it’s not constantly on farmers at their expense.

“That is an avenue I am really keen on exploring.”

Cllr Ormston encouraged other ward councillors to organise similar meetings for their residents.

“I think it’s really useful for officers, councillors and residents to come together to discuss this issue because Peterborough is a hotspot for it.

“Too many entities are working separately. There’s the police, the council, farmers and residents.

“We need to all come together and work collaboratively to tackle this problem.”

Councillors at the meeting will now meet with officers to create a public briefing note and an action list to be shared to all interested parties.