Huge Rise In Illegal Dumping Following H&F Conservatives Service Cuts And Stealth Taxes

Yasmine Estaphanos of Shepherds BushW12.Com has scooped a story from the Environment Agency pointing out that Hammersmith and Fulham Council has seen a “significant increase” in the amount of rubbish fly-tipped on the boroughs streets last year and that this has cost us all an extra and unplanned £1.3million to clear up.

The website points out that “The number of fly-tipping incidents in Hammersmith and Fulham decreased between 2005/06 [after the Labour Administration at the time introduced street wardens to fine the culprits] and 2006/07– from 5941 to 5275 in 2006/07. However, [following the election of the current Conservative Administration] there was a significant increase in the number recorded in 2007/08 – to 9334 incidents. The most common size of fly tipping incident in Hammersmith and Fulham is small van load, which has seen a big increase in 2007/08. The occurrence of large incidents has increased significantly, and the number of significant/multi load incidents is higher than the number of single item incidents.”

Cllr. Wesley Harcourt (Lab), the Shadow Cabinet Member for the Environment says he's also noticed a "big increase in dog-fouling, littering and fly-tipping" since Hammersmith and Fulham’s Conservative Administration introduced new policies that involved:

• cutting the street cleaning and refuse collection budget by £1m
• cutting the number of street wardens who were to meant to seek out and stop the people from dumping litter or allowing their dogs to foul our streets
• cancelling the garden waste removal service
• bringing in brand new stealth taxes for removing unwanted bulky household items

Wesley added “The Conservative Administration have got themselves into a ridiculous situation where they are now having to spend an extra £1.3m reacting to the problems caused by their actions and our streets have become filthy in the process. Residents can try to force H&F Council to act when they find rubbish or dog fouling dumped onto our streets, which they can do by by phoning the Council on 020 8753 1100 and demanding it's removed. Residents can make an official complaint if the situation is not addressed. I am certainly reporting all those instances I see.”