Fly-tipping continues to blight Wigan housing estate

Jim Gaskell says the ongoing issue of fly-tipping, litter and the rodents it attracts are putting a spanner in the works of the council’s plans to regenerate the Worsley Mesnes estate.

Mr Gaskell, a foster carer, has lived in Prestt Grove for 46 years. He said that over the past few years, it has become common to find rotting food waste, dirty nappies and broken glass left in the street - an issue that he has fought to resolve by contacting his MP Yvonne Fovargue and Wigan Council.

And while he understands that the town hall’s resources are stretched during the current pandemic, he said more needed to be done to clean up the estate, given the town hall’s plans to regenerate the area.

He said: “Some people are continually putting rubbish in gardens, like food waste. I am sick to death of it. I’ve been phoning the council and my MP but nothing gets done about it.

“There’s rubbish on the fields, they are fly-tipping on the fields. They keep talking about the regeneration of Worsley Mesnes but they’re not doing anything to maintain the estates.

“I know a pandemic is going on, but this has been going on for years. From where my house is, looking into the alley, there are cardboard boxes, chairs, a couch has even been put out.”

He added: “Last year I shot seven rats in my back garden due to this mess people are leaving, like food waste in their garden.

“The cul de sac is an absolute mess. It is continually full of mattresses, blinds, beds, carpets and food waste. I’m sick of going out tidying stuff up, I won’t continue doing it.”

Paul Barton, Wigan Council’s director for environment, said the council was still investigating fly-tipping despite having to redeploy many staff, such as waste team members, into other frontline roles during the pandemic.

He said: “Teams have now visited Prestt Grove and cleared the rubbish. Fly tipping is an illegal act, it blights our environment and we rely on the intelligence and cooperation of local people to support us with this.

“The pandemic means some of our teams have been redeployed to frontline services but we continue to investigate fly-tip incidents and gather evidence which may lead to a prosecution. We have received various reports of fly tipping from this area and we are exploring options like CCTV to tackle this issue.”

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