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We name and shame - and tip is cleared up
Fly-tipping blackspot fenced off after Times & Citizen story.
Residents in Queens Park are "delighted" an urban rubbish tip has been cleared up and secured with new fencing to keep out fly-tippers.
However, the site is only one of many in Queens Park, and on Tuesday Coun Mohammed Yasin and resident Dave Beman took us on a tour of fly-tipping hotspots in the area.
Three weeks ago the Times & Citizen reported how the site on the corner of Howard Avenue and Coventry Road, formerly home to the Coventry Arms pub, was littered with electrical appliances, building waste and even gas canisters.
But within days of our report the site's owners cleared and secured the tip.
Howard Avenue resident Angela Cordello, 58, complained about it a number of times.
She said: "Everyone is delighted with what has been done. It has been made secure so it is harder for people to get in there and leave rubbish.
"Now the area has been properly boarded up so it looks like an actual building development, not just a patch of wasteland.
"But what has annoyed some people around here is that residents can complain to the council all they want, but it isn't until a paper names and shames them that they are willing to do something about it."
Two of the area's worst hot-spots for fly-tipping are the former Hazelwood Foods factory in Chestnut Avenue, and a half-acre plot of land on the corner of Preston Road and Gratton Road.
Mr Beman, of Old Ford End Road, said: "Both these sites have been derelict for years and constantly fall victim to fly-tipping.
"Residents complain constantly, but the council never chase up the owners of these blots on the landscape to make them secure. We've been told before that they haven't been able to get in contact with the owners.
"However, earlier this month when thieves got into the factory in Chestnut Avenue and made off with materials inside, the police had no problem finding the owners and it wasn't long before they were there clearing out anything of any value themselves."
Coun Yasin believes that many illegal fly-tippers are not from Queens Park, and wants residents to be more vocal in the battle against the blight.
He said: "People know these sites exist and they come from outside the area to dump their rubbish.
"As soon as residents see people illegally leaving their rubbish on these sites, I would like them to contact the police and myself. If we stand up against this, and constantly complain to the police and council, they will have to do something about it."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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