Council tackles fly tippers

Two officers have been recruited as part of a partnership effort to tackle fly-tipping and waste disposal issues in Crewe.

The street scene improvement officers took up post on Monday and will be focused on areas of the town where there are frequent incidents of fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling. 

They will identify and investigate waste disposal issues and co-ordinate partner agencies to address them and target resources. They will also engage with residents, businesses and landlords to give them information and advice about responsible waste disposal and recycling and support community clean-up activity.

The two new posts are being funded by Cheshire East Council and administered by Crewe Town Council, via income received in 2017/18 from fixed penalty fines for littering offences. 

It follows a survey carried out by the council in 2017, which covered six ‘hot spot’ areas, and the council’s No Rubbish Excuses campaign – both of which identified the need for more direct engagement with residents and businesses. 

Councillor Janet Clowes, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for adult social care and integration and a member of the monitoring group, said: “Our targeted No Rubbish Excuses campaign sent a firm message to those who commit environmental crimes that the council was stepping up its fight against them.

“Last summer we agreed to invest a further £100,000 to continue the crackdown on such crimes. This included maintaining the education elements of the campaign, investing in specialist bin identification equipment and agreeing a one-off payment to support Crewe Town Council’s dedicated ‘waste clean team’ – funded through income from fixed penalty fines.  

“A cross-party fly-tipping monitoring group has been meeting regularly with Cheshire East officers and Crewe Town Council to support the implementation of these plans. We were recently able to finalise the funding and implementation of the two new posts.

“These new roles will help us to take the campaign to people’s doors – addressing specific waste management issues and identifying where there might be communication barriers.

“All this work will be done while continuing to spread the campaign’s messages that fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling are disgusting and crimes.”

Both street scene improvement officers will be employed by Crewe Town Council. They will work in conjunction with the town council’s two ‘Crewe rangers’, who carry out street scene improvement works across the town centre. 

The current education and waste prevention programme, run by Cheshire East Council’s environmental services company Ansa, will further support the officers’ work. 

Councillor Benn Minshull, deputy leader of Crewe Town Council, said: “This latest initiative has the potential to have a real and significant impact over what is a real and significant problem to people’s lives. 

“These new officers are a welcome enhancement to the Crewe Ranger scheme, and having seen how successful that has been, we very much look forward to seeing what can be achieved.”

Cllr Don Stockton, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for environment, said: “I welcome the creation of these two new posts, which will play an important role in addressing the waste issues that blight communities in Crewe.”

Fly-tipping, littering and dog fouling can be reported to the council online.