‘It wouldn’t happen in Lisvane or Whitchurch’
PEOPLE in Riverside and Canton are tired of the “horrendous” fly-tipping that has been an issue in the area for years.
Residential streets have become dumping grounds for all kinds of items including mattresses, fridge-freezers, hoovers, TVs and rubble.
“It is literally daily in my street,” said Riverside resident, Kelly Brown, 47.
“I have lived here for five years, and it has always been an issue. We have pick-ups almost every other day.”
The council do regularly remove the waste, but the speed at which it builds back up has become a real issue, say residents.
There are now calls for the council to take action to prevent the fly-tipping in the first place.
“The daft thing is, if the council put up cameras, they would save money and make a fortune. But they just ignore it,” said Ms Brown, of Littleton Street.
“It wouldn’t be allowed in Whitchurch and Lisvane. We are one of the main routes into town, it must look horrendous to people visiting the city.”
Ninian Park Road and the adjoining side streets bear the brunt of the problem, with rubbish piled up on almost every street corner.
“I’m constantly reporting this dumping in Riverside to the council. Our local councillor [Leonora Thomson] is good if you email her to alert her to dumping,” said Claire Williams on a Canton and Riverside Facebook group.
“It’s incredibly depressing though, it’s like a tree is a flag for rubbish dumping in Riverside.”
Aisha Davies said the dumped rubbish brought down the feel of the area.
“It’s depressing and disheartening also because we live in a working-class area – but why make the area worse and more unsightly,” she said.
“Where is basic decency to look after and take pride in where you live?”
Five mattresses and a fridge freezer: what I saw in an hour
In an hour of walking through Canton and Riverside, I came across: five dirty mattresses, three TVs, one bed, one sofa, one wooden door, one fridge freezer and countless sacks filled with wood and rubble.
Every side street off Ninian Park Road and Tudor Street had some form of rubbish piled up against a tree or wall.
Equally as shocking was the number of times I saw planks of wood and pieces of metal that could easily be taken to a refuse site either by car or on foot.
“Residents and neighbours seem to deem it acceptable to use the streets as a dump when ironically the Bessemer Road tip is just five minutes away,” said Ms Davies.
Dumped items were often accompanied by notes urging passers-by to take them.
One such item, a bed on Chancery Lane, was in a place with little through traffic and unlikely to be seen.
A Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “If you are paying for someone to remove waste from your home, ensure that they are registered to do so, or you could end up in court.
“The council does have several infrared cameras which are used in fly tipping hot spots across the city.
“The message to those who continue to ruin the environment that we all live in is, stop. If you get caught you will either receive a fixed penalty notice or face court action with a possible fine of up to £50,000 – or six months imprisonment depending on the severity of the case.
“If anyone spots fly-tipping, the most effective way of reporting it to us, is via our website (www.cardiff.gov.uk/flytipping), or via our Cardiff Gov app. That way, we will have an exact location and all the information necessary to investigate.”
