Residents say 'nobody cares' over fly-tipping

Housing estate residents say they have been overwhelmed with incidents of fly-tipping.

There are currently three large piles of waste within 100 yards of each other on Inns Court Drive in the Knowle West area of Bristol.

People living locally say they are adding to one of the piles with waste they have found dumped in the surrounding area in the hope it will get collected - but say it has now been there for months.

Bristol City Council acknowledged there had been longstanding waste issues in the area and discouraged locals from handling fly-tipped material, while thanking them for trying to improve the area.

Residents walking around the Inns Court Drive described their embarrassment at the amount of waste that was being dumped close to their houses.

When asked why it hasn't been collected, the answer was mostly "nobody cares".

Chair of the Inns Court Residents' Association, David Woods, says residents used to have a better rapport with council-owned Bristol Waste, which used to send staff to collect fly-tipped waste.

"They said they [Bristol Waste] can't afford it anymore," he added.

"They said they had to pay to actually dump the waste that they took down to Avonmouth in the vans."

According to Mr Woods, some of the waste at the largest site - opposite the Inns Court play area - had been removed from local woodlands and hedgerows by residents and placed there, but that other people had been adding to it since then.

He describes removing asbestos panels and oil barrels containing "god knows what", along with huge quantities of nitrous oxide canisters.

Woods said he understood Bristol Waste has difficult financial issues, but said he regretted the former partnership between the company and locals when they worked together to remove waste.

He added that locals had been given "excuses" and told not to pick some items up as other council departments should take care of it.

Councillor Abi Finch, chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee at Bristol City Council, said the authority understood residents' frustration with "longstanding waste issues".

However, they discouraged people from moving fly-tipped waste, asserting that it can "make collection and enforcement more difficult" for collectors.

"We encourage residents to report fly-tipping where they find it and avoid moving it.

"This will help us collect the waste in a timely manner, preserve evidence and take action against those responsible for fly-tipping."

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