03/19/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

REPORTS of fly-tipping and noise nuisance have risen in Swansea, but dog mess complaints have gone down.

Some areas in Swansea experienced in a large surge in fly-tipping complaints between April 1, 2020, and March 31 this year compared to the previous 12 months, but reports fell in other areas.

There were 192 reports in Townhill, more than double the 81 reports from the preceding year.

People in Cwmbwrla reported 106 fly-tipping incidents compared to 60 previously, while 75 reports were made in Llansamlet compared to 41 previously.

The rural Mawr ward, parts which have been been blighted by large-scale fly-tipping in recent years, saw 29 complaints in 2020-21 compared to 15 the year before.

Reports plummeted in Pontarddulais – down from 90 to 24 – and dropped in Penderry, from 105 to 78, and St Thomas, from 68 to 46.

The figures for each ward have been provided by Cllr Mark Thomas, cabinet member for environment enhancement and infrastructure management, in response to a written question from councillors Cheryl Philpott, Peter Black and Mary Jones.

The highest number of reports after Townhill were the highly populated wards of Castle (172), which covers the city centre, the marina and Sandfields, and Uplands (144).

“These incidents vary from the extreme of a lorry load fly-tipped, down to the majority of incidents relating to singular items or just a couple of bags of material,” said Cllr Thomas.

In total there were 1,511 fly-tipping reports, up from 1,425 in 2019-20. Council officers fined five offenders and carried out three prosecutions.

Cllr Black, who represents Cwmbwrla, said he had reported five fly-tipping incidents alone on July 22, including a dumped trampoline and also rubbish bundled out from a van on the junction of Clare Street and Zouch Street.

He said a large quantity of rubble left at the end of Megan Street, off Carmarthen Road, took weeks to finally clear.

Cllr Black urged the council to step up its prosecution activity in cases where evidence was available.

He said fly-tipping may have risen last spring when civic amenity sites were temporarily closed due to Covid, but said there wasn’t an excuse to dump rubbish anywhere.

“People should take it to the tip,” said Cllr Black. “There is no reason to leave this stuff on the streets.”

The council has separately released noise nuisance and dog mess statistics in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Local Democracy Reporter Service.

There were 4,247 noise nuisance complaints in 2020-21 compared to 3,555 the year before. Officers sent out 142 warning letters, issued 48 abatement notices and prosecuted one offender.

Dog mess complains totalled 492, down from 573 the previous year. The highest number were in Mumbles, followed by Sketty and West Cross.

The council said cleansing officers cleared up affected areas of dog mess in response to complaints, and posted letters to residents if the problem was persistent.

Action against dog mess offenders was taken five times, with one fixed penalty notice issued.

The response from the council refused to give fly-tipping figures because the information would, it said, be submitted to and published by the Welsh Government in due course.

Overflowing dog mess bins and litter bins aren’t uncommon in parks and hotspots like seafront car parks in Swansea.

The council has repeatedly asked people to take dog mess and litter home with them if bins are full.

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