Anger as huge pile of fly-tipped rubbish left to accumulate 'for months' in south Bristol
Anger is mounting as flytipped rubbish is building at a spot in south Bristol.
A small patch of grass on Novers Park Road in Knowle West is heaped with carpets, chairs, pushchairs, Dolmio sauce jars, Thatchers Haze cider cans, a mattress and other items.
One resident of the street, a legal secretary, said the mess has been accumulating for “a number of months”.
She said: “We have enough refuse collection for people to just do their recycling properly. There’s no need to dump this rubbish.”
Bristol City Council says the responsibility for clearance lies with the landowner and it has been in contact with them about the problem.
Rubbish almost entirely covers the grass, which sits behind Sai beauty salon on Leinster Avenue. A gap in the low brick wall allows access to the plot from the pavement of Novers Park Road.
A sign on the land says: “No flytipping. Offenders will be prosecuted. Maximum fine £50,000.”
But the legal secretary, 54, claims flytipping on the site has been getting “progressively worse.”
The local, who wishes to remain anonymous, added waste usually builds for months before the patch is cleared.
“What’s there at the moment is the worst I’ve ever seen. People make the effort to dump stuff there. Why not find out when the tips open and dump it there?
“It’s one of those things you'll never see happen until there’s CCTV. Or they could put in a high fence.
"I feel like putting a sign there myself saying, ‘Stop doing this you lazy scum.’”
Most of the waste left there is domestic, she added.
“It isn’t stuff you’d get when workmen have stripped a kitchen out,” the resident said.
“Often it’s a mix of plastic bottles. A lot of it could just be collected in the weekly round of the council.
“People haven’t got any pride in themselves. I wouldn’t say this issue is just because it’s Knowle. It’s not the place, it’s a few people. It’s always a few who stick out.
“I’d like to see the council put some CCTV on the road. We need something to stop it, otherwise it will just keep happening.”
The local says the neighbourhood does not have a major litter problem and the Novers Park Road grot spot is the exception rather than the norm.
Another resident, a 41-year-old caterer, said: “The flytipping is getting worse there each day. It’s very hazardous to the public.
"I've lived on the road just over a year. I moved here and it was like that. I think it's only been cleared once in that time.
"Of course it's a shame for the neighbourhood. It's a residential road with working class people living there."
Asked if the council plans to install CCTV, a council spokesperson said this would be a matter for the landowner.
They said: “Clearing fly-tipping on private land is the duty of the landowner and, having been made aware of this problem, we have been in contact with them about this issue as well as the security of the land."
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