Residents ‘sick to their stomachs’ as rubbish piles up at Huddersfield play park

The latest fly-tip at the Yew Hills Road play area in Thornton Lodge, which is considered a ‘hotspot’ by local councillors, was reported to Kirklees Council in mid-March and is yet to be removed.

The matter was brought to the attention of the council’s cabinet earlier this week by Crosland Moor and Netherton ward councillor, Jo Lawson.

She told the meeting: “This is a play area and of all the grot spots of fly-tipping in my ward that gets to me the most, it is this area because children should be able to play safely there.

"The latest fly-tip was reported in the middle of March, again by myself, and we’re nearly two months on and all that has happened is the fly-tip has grown. And still we’re being told it doesn’t warrant covert monitoring.”

Councillor Lawson was also concerned about waste being collected by volunteers not being collected by the council.

She added: “There are bags of litter still waiting to be collected from a litter pick on Manchester Road within my ward that have been there since February. We should be championing our volunteers, not making them think what is the point?”

She urged the council to look at reopening the tip seven days a week, having a token charge for bulky waste collection and sending wagons to hotspots to collect rubbish.

In response, cabinet member for environment and highways, Coun Munir Ahmed, spoke of the importance of partnership working in tackling fly-tipping.

He said: “I have had extensive discussions with the ward councillors in terms of the situation and in terms of the play areas and the play provisions, it is in the programme but like budgets and like everything else, we’re going to try and make sure we can do whatever we can to make it safe.

“In terms of fly-tipping in that area, again, we need that partnership working with the residents, ward members and ourselves to try and see what we can do.”

Councillor Lawson added: “I understand the financial constraints of the council, I really do, but now we’ve actually got to the point where a fly tip is being reported and it’s still there two, three months later.

"I remember when I was first elected. I used to walk, well I still do walk around my ward and I could report in a fly-tip, I could go back the next week and it would be gone but now you’re just looking at the same pile with a bit extra tucked on top.”

Her ward colleague, Coun Imran Safdar, called for CCTV cameras to be installed.

He said: “We’ve asked for this so many times – the residents, the place of worship, the pensioners. The children and the parents of the area are sick to their stomachs of seeing fly tips.”