The Covid-19 pandemic has made ‘dealing with’ fly tipping in Stockport ‘not easy’, according to a senior councillor.
Coun Sheila Bailey’s comments come after new data shows that more than 4,000 fly tipping reports were made in Stockport last year.
A freedom of information request to the council revealed that, between April 2020 and March 2021, the authority received 4,251 tip-offs.
“It is not an easy issue to deal for several reasons,” Coun Bailey, the authority’s cabinet member for Sustainable Stockport, said.
“One is that it is by its very nature often done when there are no witnesses or it is done in places where there are less likely to be people.
“[Also,] staff have not been able to search as they would do normally… they search [through waste] to see if there is any information on where it has come from.
“People may not have been able to get to the tip as it was closed, and when it opened there were restrictions on what you could take.
“It remains a problem and it is a scourge and to the people who are doing it: stop it.
“Every taxpayer in Stockport is paying to tidy up your rubbish.”
When examined by ward, the Central and Brinnington area is by far the most fly tipped zone, with its 661 reports accounting for more than 15 percent of the final total.
Next on the list was the Edgeley and Cheadle Heath ward — which Coun Bailey has represented since 1990 — with 11 percent of calls to the council, equating to 483 reports.
The least-badly hit area was Bramhall South, seeing just 37 reports — or 0.87 percent of the sum.
The figures, when presented on a map, show that the problem tends to be more prevalent closer to the centre of the borough.
Residents can report fly tipping to the council online , or by contacting their local councillor .
Full breakdown by ward, including percentage of total in brackets:
Bramhall North - 76 (1.79)
Bramhall South - 37 (0.87)
Bredbury and Woodley - 184 (4.33)
Bredbury Green and Romiley - 172 (4.05)
Brinnington and Central - 661 (15.55)
Cheadle and Gatley - 215 (5.06)
Cheadle Hulme North - 132 (3.11)
Cheadle Hulme South - 75 (1.76)
Davenport and Cale Green - 305 (7.17)
Edgeley and Cheadle Heath - 483 (11.36)
Hazel Grove - 162 (3.81)
Heald Green - 79 (1.86)
Heatons North - 124 (2.92)
Heatons South - 123 (2.89)
Manor - 207 (4.87)
Marple North - 83 (1.95)
Marple South - 104 (2.45)
Offerton - 267 (6.28)
Reddish North - 397 (9.34)
Reddish South - 248 (5.83)
Stepping Hill - 117 (2.75)
Total - 4,251
