A grant of £50,000 has been awarded to Thanet council as part of a pilot scheme to tackle fly-tipping.
The money, distributed by charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) will be used to target fly-tipping hotspots at Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads in Cliftonville through more enforcement, increased CCTV coverage and raising awareness.
Some funding will also be used to create a second community shed project in Ramsgate where volunteers can access tools for litter picking or gardening.
The Cliftonville roads have been plagued by the ongoing saga of fly-tipping and missed rubbish collections despite the removal of hated communal bins at the end of October 2020.
The paladin bins at each end of Athelstan Road were supposed to be for community use by residents in the area that do not have access to a residential refuse area.
But the bins had been a continual hotspot for dumping of everything from used nappies to household furniture. They were removed but fly-tipping, especially in the area of the former car wash site, continued.
The new project will include alleyway gating in Athelstan Road – with the opportunity to create a linear community garden- and CCTV.
The measures were requested by Athelstan Road Tenants & Residents’ Association (Artra) and then put forward by Thanet Multi-agency Task Force (MTF). A initial bid to the Home Office failed but has now been secured through the WRAP scheme.
An Artra spokesperson said: “Artra await finalisation of precisely where the gates will be placed, given that there are several alleyway access points, each of which in themselves have been used for fly tipping and criminal activity for very many years.
“Artra was interested in pursuing a community consultation on the whole matter, which was proposed recently by Secretary Joe Bacon, but as this is in part a police matter, due to the weight of reported crime occurring over a very significant period of time – prostitution, drug dealing, environmental crime, violent assault etc. – the option for debating the merits of gating the alleyway wasn’t possible.
“Artra hope to hold community events jointly, for both the Ethelbert and Athelstan communities, prior to any community linear garden activity, so tenants and residents can discuss options and dates for preparatory alleyway sanitation prior to organising and agreeing actual community gardening session dates and times.
“Artra very much hope this proves to be a positive move to collectively create a tranquil community space, which becomes a valued community asset, not somewhere to dump cat litter, domestic waste, white goods and inject heroin and other hazardous activities.
“We would like to thank all Cliftonville West Ward TDC and KCC Councillors – Alan Currie, Heather Keen, Harry Scobie and Barry Lewis – for their ongoing support of Artra and the community, as well as Cllr Jill Bayford and our MP Craig Mackinlay, whose involvement at ARTRA meetings has helped add gravitas to the very many ongoing issues affecting our community.”
Thanet council says the aim is to increase prosecutions for fly-tipping but also to improve how the area looks and create more community ownership.
Cllr George Kup, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “The Thanet Multi-agency Task Force has been successful in applying for funding as part of Defra’s Fly-Tipping Intervention Grant Scheme. This pilot scheme, delivered by WRAP, provides capital funding for projects at known fly-tipping hot-spots where there is the potential to improve infrastructure, support enforcement activity and to raise awareness of the damaging nature of fly-tipping to local communities and the environment.
“Thanet District Council has been awarded £50,000 of funding as part of this trial, which will be used to support the ongoing project in Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads in Margate.
“The funding will enable us to put in place improved enforcement strategies for fly-tipping, and central to this will be the installation of additional CCTV cameras at key sites, to be monitored in real-time from our CCTV control room. Our ability to intervene with potential fly-tips will be increased, with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of prosecutions and positive outcomes for residents.
“The project aims to reduce the transience of families with low household incomes, by creating an improved sense of community through increased community ownership of shared spaces. The Task Force is working to improve the physical appearance of the local environment as well as encouraging wildlife, in line with our commitment to tackling the climate and biodiversity emergency.
“As part of this initiative, the funding from Defra will be used to develop a second community shed project in Ramsgate. Volunteers will be able to register to access the shed and tools for litter picking or gardening in their local area, with support from our Community Team and Open Spaces Team.”
Residents can contact the Community Safety team for more information on community.safety@thanet.gov.uk”
You won’t change anything in Cliftonoverspill until you change who lives there….
Yep, a bit of balance needs to be restored, though it’ll only displace the thebanti social and irresponsible to blight other areas. Athelstan and Ethelbert have become what they are as a result of it being a dumping ground for those nobody else wantsvto house and in return tdc turns a blind eye.
The money will go the same way as all the rest ,not on sorting the problem but being wasted on other stupid projects that never come to anything or lost in the council system
Why not spend the money on collecting large items for free?
Yeah the councils just don’t help themselves. Making less and less communal bins available. And who came up with the idea that booking appointments to go to the tip will help stop covid i do not know. Terrible plan. It just makes people less motivated to take their rubbish there. And we waste a tax payers money for a man to stand there taking codes for people to come in
Just for once, I agree with Peter.
Be proactive rather than reactive.
Because to do so for just a few areas would be disriminatory to the rest of thanet.
Many of the large items are dumped by commercial entrrprises ans so wouldn’t be eligible.
The majority of the rubbish dumped around cliftonville is domestic waste.
The problem is down to residents behaviour ( basically laziness and being self centred)
Athelstan and Ethelbert are thanets equivalents of sink estates, where those no one else wants were/are housed, the conditions they live in are poor ( partly of their own making partly due to the landlords theycrent from) in the latter the council turns a blind eye as it doesn’t want the burden of housing the tenants themselves and the problems of dealing with properties with absent freeholders.
The more recent vocal incomers wanting to gentrify the area want to change the status quo, but don’t want to address the root of the problem ( behaviour of some of the residents). Because that would to them be discriminating against migrants and the poor in their minds.
So resources will be poured into Athelstan and Ethelbert ( its basically the focus of the MTF (or whatever its called now) action in margate) 10 years of selective licensing apparently not having bought all the housing upto to standard.
the jewel in the karsy !
Peter again is right…..
The world has gone mad…
But councils need to make it easier to legal depose of stuff and spend more money in that than constant fire fighting it.
Its also on the newington estate in Ramsgate. Lot of rubbish been left near St christophers church hall,the grounds are overgrown with weeds,its terrible and its an eyesore.
Ramsgate is full of rubbish… Total no go zone after 6pm.
Ramsgate certainly is not a “no-go zone” after 6pm.
I go out in Ramsgate after 6 p.m. with no problems whatsoever.
Have you been down there at night Marva?
There are thugs beating people up reported almost every day in Ramsgate.
Thanet is not loved by the Council and society has been changed by the powers above. Ramsgate is just one area where deprivation accounts for thugish behaviour. Cliftonville and Margate do not fare much better.
Good old thanet council who still got my 24 year old daughter down as going going to school lol
Yes.
I would say more name & shame but feel its infective when the culprits & their associates don’t care anyway.
Why not provide free skips once a month?
Hey top poster I lived in Athelstan Road how dare you say get rid of who is there.. That to me is a racist comment
The turn over of residents is part of the problem.
I’ve seen local people just fly tip they not all from the area.
I’ve seen business dump rubbish even a
Cigarette butt is rubbish, gum, dog poo, spit. What tdc need is a bigger longer term idea not a one of 50k will not be sustainable.
Underground rubbish could be an idea for future.
Cameras will capture fly tippers.
Big items that are bulky needs a further sustainable way but sadly when I mention anything to community groups it’s always about the cost.
It’s not the only area for fly tipping. The bigger problem is GW handling management as he is the officer who should have it nipped in bud years ago. All groups do is argue the toss and suo tea
One of the images above is of Dalby Square where a lot of fly tipping goes on as well as at Athelstan and Ethelbert Roads. Edgar road is another spot but no mention of any project in these places as well so they will just get worse. You need enforcement officers out and about catching the vans and car drivers who bring in their crap and dump it there also along with those disposing from nearby properties. But they need to make it easier for people to get rid of domestic waste legally.
The food bank on the corner of Edgar regularly chucks stuff they don’t want/ can’t use in the bulk bins. Certainly can’t be classed as residential use , hardly commercial but is an instant exception to the rule and the start of a slippery slope.
The first priority should be getting all the areas rubbish placed in bins no matter where it comes from and have it cleared efficiently, when the casual dumping and endless litter has been controlled, that is the time to try and deal with where it comes from and possibly try and do some recycling, need to walk before running.