Dudley to get deep clean, vows council
A ‘deep clean’ of eyesore parts of Dudley will be carried out as the borough’s biggest ever crackdown on fly-tipping is launched.
The clean up for fly-tipping is costing taxpayers in Dudley around £60,000 a year, says the council.
Now the authority is saying the borough will be ‘deep cleaned’ and ‘robust enforcement’ has been ordered to catch the culprits.
In 2016/17 Dudley Council bosses recorded 1,069 incidents of fly-tipping – compared to 824 the previous year. While the number in 2017/18 reduced to 832.
But bosses are still keen to drive the number down further and are vowing to track down offenders and prosecute them.
The clean-up in the borough is expected to target areas which are most hit by fly-tippers including alleyways and bridleways.
The council also will recording the worst hit areas and the type of rubbish being dumped.
Council officers will be sifting through the waste to try to identify offenders in order to prosecute them.
Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Fly-tipping is a crime, plain and simple. It not only causes a terrible eyesore for people, it also leaves the taxpayer out of pocket, and that is not acceptable.
“We are launching the biggest crackdown on fly-tipping in years, investing in not only clearing up the mess but also catching those responsible. We want a deep clean of the borough because residents have told us there are areas of fly-tipping.
“We will identify them, clean them and make sure they stay clean by robust enforcement.
“We are proud of Dudley and we will keep it clean.”
The crackdown scheme is starting this month and will run until the end of March. Meanwhile around 7,500 more gullies will be cleaned in the Black Country in a bid to beat the big freeze and clean up residential roads.
Dudley Council bosses said the new scheme – which comes following scores of requests from residents – will also reduce the risk of flash floods. It will mean that more will be cleaned in 2018/19 compared to the year before, improving overall road conditions during the winter period.
Councillor Ahmed said: “Judging from the amount of requests we get for gully cleaning, it is very much what people want and we have listened and acted on that. Gully cleaning is vital in improving safety for road users and our residents.”
If the trial is a success, plans are already in place a for a full roll-out in 2019/20 so gullies on residential roads are cleaned every two years. The additional work is expected to start later this month subject to weather.
