Fly-tipping 'on the increase'

The borough's fly-tipping hotspots and the sheer scale of the problem across Wigan have been revealed.
Just some of the mess left by fly-tippersJust some of the mess left by fly-tippers
Just some of the mess left by fly-tippers

Figures released under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act showed there were more than 1,800 examples of rubbish being dumped in the borough in 2016-17.

The problem appears to be increasing as well, with the latest figure a rise from the 1,759 fly-tipping incidents in 2015-16 but a reduction from the 1,951 recorded in 2014-15.

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Ormskirk Road in Pemberton has also been revealed as the biggest blackspot for dumping rubbish on open land, topping the chart of shame in the borough for the past two years.

There were 23 incidents there in 2016-17 and 29 in 2015-16.

The main route also had the second-highest incidents of waste being thrown away inappropriately in 2015-14, with 27 examples of tipping.

Glebe Street in Leigh is another serial source of problems, appearing in the blackspots list for the past three years and coming second in 2016-17 with 21 incidents.

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The unwanted top five was rounded out last year by Gordon Street and Hope Street in Leigh and Church Street in Ince, all of which saw rubbish dumped there 14 times.

The figures are particularly damning for the Leigh side of the borough, with the WN7 postcode recording an enormous 566 incidents of fly-tipping last year, almost double the number recorded in any other postcode.

The small rise in incidents in the borough over the past couple of years reflects a national trend which is seeing fly tipping becoming a bigger issue across the country.

Despite that Wigan Council is taking steps to improve the situation and said it is determined to crack down on the problem.

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Karl Battersby, director for economy and environment, said: “We are taking a zero-tolerance approach to fly tipping and need residents to help us by reporting incidents and hotspots so we can carry out enforcement and catch offenders.

“Our new and expanded environmental education and enforcement team is now in action seven days a week and will be working with residents to tackle all types of environmental crime, ensuring we have clean and tidy communities.

“We are doing work in targeted areas of the borough where fly tipping is a particular problem for example working directly with residents to help them understand recycling and installing barriers and CCTV to catch repeat offenders.”

The FOI stats suggest other areas with significant fly-tipping problems in 2016-17 were the WN2 postcode, where there were 294 incidents, and WN5 with 269.

To report an environmental crime such as fly tipping or dog fouling visit www.wigan.gov.uk/reportit or download the council’s Report It app.