Clear up at notorious fly tipping hotspot in Alt

A 13-tonne excavator, five-tonne dumper truck, five skips and eight hours of hard work. That’s what it took to clear a huge amount of rubbish dumped on a strip of FCHO-owned land behind Cherry Avenue in Alt at the end of May.

Old mattresses, kids’ toys and lots of household waste were among the items that the team from Tyson Construction found when they volunteered to clear this notorious fly tipping hotspot for us. Their aim was to help improve the local area for residents, as they continue their work with us to build 38 new family homes at our Cherry Avenue housing scheme.

David Wrigley, our Head of Neighbourhood Care said: “Unfortunately this piece of land had been blighted by an inconsiderate few who had turned it into a dumping ground. The mess was not only unpleasant and a nuisance for our customers and local people, but it was a health and safety risk too.

“Residents told us how fed up they were with the situation and tackling fly tipping is in our neighbourhood plan for Alt.

“On this occasion we’ve been fortunate to have had this site cleared by our development partner but work on this scale would normally cost us £10-15k - taking resources away from other important services for our customers, which is why we’re clamping down on fly tipping.

“We’ll be keeping a close eye on the area going forward and will take enforcement action against anyone we find responsible for abandoning rubbish there.”

Our work to help tackle fly tipping in our neighbourhoods and support the Don’t Trash Oldham campaign

Most people take pride in where they live, but unfortunately a minority don’t and rubbish and fly tipping in our neighbourhoods are persistent issues.

From customer feedback, we know the negative impact this has on people and their area, that’s why last autumn we launched three pilot projects to deal with the amount of rubbish dumped on FCHO-owned land.

We turned fly tipping into environmental crime scenes in the Coldhurst - Clarkwell area; reviewed bin stores in the Eldon Street and town centre neighbourhoods; and trialled community clean up days in Holts and Derker.

The results are now shaping our future approach that will help make a positive difference to our customers and neighbourhoods.

Our message is clear: dispose of your waste responsibly

• We investigate all incidents of fly tipping in your neighbourhoods. Those responsible for illegally dumping waste risk a Community Protection Warning and a £135 fine, plus a recharge for the cost of removal of the waste starting at £132.
• If you've got unwanted bulky or large items, please get rid of them carefully. If you pay someone to take away your waste, check they have a waste carriers’ licence. If they don’t and the rubbish is later found dumped, then you could be the one in trouble.
• Bulky Bob's offers a bulky household waste collection service on behalf of Oldham Council
• Oldham’s recycling centre at Arkwright Street is open seven days a week, 8am-8pm.
• To report fly tipping on FCHO-owned land please call us on 0161 393 7117 or email servicecentre@fcho.co.uk.