Reports of fly-tipping in Swansea have surged over the past 12 months.
In Townhill reports more than doubled from 81 to 192 in 2021, and in Cwmbwrla, incidents jumped from 60 to 106. The highest number of reports after Townhill were the highly populated wards of Castle (172), which covers the city centre and the surrounding areas, including Waun Wen.
Clare Cairney-Withers, a Waun Wen resident who also runs a cleaning business, said that she's been trying to "clean up" the area for seven years.
"This has been an on-going issue for years now, and it's happening right outside my house. I have spent seven years trying my best to clean up the area."
Clare said that the green space in the community is no longer safe for children to use as there are needles and glass strewn around from tipped rubbish.
She said: "I have personally used my time and money for years to make it safer and clear it up. I understand that there's been a lot of tipping in the area all over but it getting beyond now. There are so many good people who care about our streets, and there is a real sense of community that's just overlooked because of it. It's just such a shame, but the council need to pull there finger out as I've watched litter pickers just walking straight past it.
"The green is a danger to children and dogs as there are often needles left about as well as glass, which the council just mow over. It's very frustrating as we see things go up about the area of how it's gone to the dogs, but the council do nothing to properly clean it up."
Other residents on the other hand said that the local councillor Fiona Gordon has vamped up efforts in recent days to tackle fly-tipping, arranging same-day removals in some instances.
Another long-time resident of Waun Wen, Clive Davies, said the situation has become so dire that the community are now using a WhatsApp group to look out for fly-tippers.
Clive said: "We've been here 37 years and we've never had much of a problem except the occasional bag, but over the past few years it's just become terrible. We've had fridges dumped near our house, mattresses, beds, home furniture, big tins of paint.
"It's in part because people are putting their bags out on the wrong days, and then we have more adding to that. We have seen first hand people dumping their bags on the Terrace from other roads.
"In fairness, the council do come out to remove the items, but it can take a few weeks sometimes. It needs to be dealt with instantly, because as soon as one person does it, others start doing it."
He added: "I started a WhatsApp group recently after a power-cut, so the plan now is to use that group to keep an eye out for fly-tippers. If we see someone, we can just pop a message in the chat to give everybody else a heads up. There are a lot of home-CCTV systems in the area now, so we're doing out best to use them to help identify the tippers."
Clare also said that she's preparing to install cameras, stating: "I am about to install cameras - not just for the fly-tipping, we've had a lot of trouble on the street in general."
Swansea Council spend more than £2 million every year tackling fly tipping and littering.
A Swansea Council spokesperson said: "Fly tipping is an issue the council is working hard to combat. Our enforcement teams regularly investigate cases of fly tipping when they are reported so we can take action against those responsible.
"The annual cost of dealing with fly tipping and littering in Swansea is regularly more than £2 million each year. Residents shouldn't have to put up with fly tipping, and the residents in Waun Wen Terrace are right to make a stand against it to help improve their local community. We look forward to working with them to remove fly tipping and acting on any evidence they can provide the council with in a bid to reduce instances of fly tipping in the future."
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