An area known for fly-tipping in BD3 has been targeted again.
A concerned resident found Curzon Road filled with dumped mattresses, rubble, discarded toys, building waste, and offcuts of carpet on Saturday.
The mess has now been cleared by the Council but questions remain about how to tackle the ongoing problem.
Statistics released by the Green Party Bradford in February found that Bradford Moor was the sixth-worst ward for fly-tipping in the district with 719 reported incidents last year, down from 793 cases in 2020.
Fly-tipping is where people illegally dump waste onto the highways, footpaths or adjacent land. The size of a fly-tip can range from one bag of waste to a whole lorry load. Fly tipped waste can be either domestic or commercial.
Little Horton was ranked as the hotspot for fly-tipping with 930 reported cases, followed by Bowling and Barkerend (824), City (796), Toller (765) and Tong (736).
A local volunteer who spends his free time cleaning the streets of BD3 and beautifying the area, Mohammed Thair, said that volunteers have cleared the area eleven if not a dozen times over the past year and that Curzon Road is often targeted by fly-tippers.
Locals say that the area is used by rogue traders who dump their trade waste in the area. Mr Thair said that people get away with dumping waste on the road and in other areas of BD3 because of the lack of CCTV cameras to deter people from littering and fly-tipping.
Mr Thair, co-head volunteer of hyper-local community group, Action4BD3, said: “Curzon Road is well-known for fly-tipping. Last year, we cleaned the area eleven or possibly twelve times in the past year.
“It is a blind spot. We’ve approached Bradford Council about adding CCTV to the area because it is one of the most common areas for fly-tipping.
“As far as I know, nothing has been put in place regarding CCTV, we’ve had no further updates. It is up to the Council to invest more money, but they are always complaining that they don’t have any. Most of BD3 requires it, not just that one specific area.”
Last year Bradford Council investigated over 2,000 incidents of fly-tipping, issued over 50 fly-tipping fixed penalty notices and seized five vehicles involved in environmental crime.
However, a councillor for Bradford Moor said that it is “not his job” to clear up fly-tipping and that the Council needs to put more resources into tackling the issue.
Cllr Riaz Ahmed (Lib Dems), confirmed that the site had been cleared by visiting the road. He said: “Fly-tipping is an ongoing problem. The Council needs to put CCTV cameras up in areas where people frequently fly tip. It is not up to councillors to deal with fly-tipping, it is up to the ruling group to sort it out.
“Bradford4Better, which has expanded across the district, has taken care of the community, cleaning alleyways and so forth and so it is about time the Council did their bit. Fly-tipping must be challenged by taking a photo and reporting it. BD3 is cleaner today than four or five years ago. I can confirm that the area has been cleared and the fly-tipping has been removed.”
Cllr Mohammed Shafiq (Lab), said: “Fly-tipping is completely unacceptable. It costs the taxpayers a significant amount of money every year, it is a crime, and the Council is committed to tacking the offences of fly-tipping.
“The Council’s actions have proved substantial with a number of people being prosecuted and fined. Curzon Road is within my ward, and I have visited the area that is often fly-tipped. I want to reiterate that it is completely unacceptable. It was reported to the Council and it has been removed.”
If found guilty of fly-tipping, penalties can include a Fixed Penalty Notice of £400, an unlimited fine and up to 5 years in prison and any vehicles used to commit the offences can be seized and crushed.
Households can also be fined up to £5,000 and end up with a criminal record if they ask someone else to remove their rubbish and it is found to be fly-tipped.
Asian Standard has reached out to Bradford Council for a comment. Check back regularly for updates.”
