Butetown and Splott residents want the privately-owned wasteland cleared up
WHAT began as a little bit of fly-tipping under a bridge has grown into a health-hazard dumping ground populated by homeless people and drug addicts, according to nearby residents.
The land near to Splott’s Magic Roundabout previously housed Cardiff’s Stratstone Volvo dealership before being sold to its new owner in 2018.
Since then, an assortment of old mattresses, furniture and plastic has near-covered the ground creating an eye-sore and a health hazard for anyone passing-by or living locally.
Charlotte Davies works at Sunbelt Rentals Plant & Tools, based next to the site. She said the issue has been ongoing for years but has worsened in the past 10 months. The build-up of rubbish has also led to a homeless population and the land being “covered in faeces”.
“There’s been so much fly-tipping that there’s enough to live over there with mattresses and things, but obviously, there’s no plumbing – it’s a health risk,” said Charlotte.
“We’ve tried speaking to the council about it but they keep referring us to contact whoever owns the land. We’ve tried to find who owns the land but we don’t know who it is or how to do that.”.
Because the site is privately owned it is not the Cardiff Council’s responsibility to clear it. However, the council owns the access point to the site.
“As we don’t own the site, we will not remove the waste, but we are working closely with the landowner to get the fly-tipped waste removed as quickly as possible,” a Cardiff Council spokesperson said.
For residents and people who are regularly in the area, the site has created ongoing problems and upset.
“It’s upsetting to see how much waste there is. It’s upsetting to see the fly-tipping and think people chuck it out of cars,” said Splott resident Jane Ormord.
Darren Wilkins, who works at an office near the wasteland, said, “I walk past this site twice a week. It’s a bit of an eyesore and it’s obviously a dumping ground.
Josie Desticcio’s mum lives on the housing square adjacent to the site.
“I’ve seen junkies injecting there,” she said.
“I won’t go over in the night to see my mum because it’s quite rough.”
Measures have now been put in place to help prevent the dumping of waste onto the land.
“As of last week, the site was secured by the landowner to stop vehicle access,” the council spokesperson said.
“Covert CCTV cameras are in place on the access road to stop fly-tipping on the access road.”
