Earlier this week, the Cabinet Member for the Environment on Bolton Council, Nick Peel, said in the Full Council meeting that the introduction of slim bins had not increased fly tipping in the town. I didn’t believe this – how could it be true when so many people were taking photographs of fly-tipped rubbish? So I decided to take a walk down a long street in Nick Peel’s Ward, Tonge with the Haulgh, to see what the situation was there.
The street, Back Tonge Moor Road, runs from the junction with Crompton Way in the north, right down to the River Tonge. It’s part residential, part commercial and backed by a long row of residential properties. Essentially, it’s a perfect cross section of the Ward; given its mixture of uses. Most importantly, this are only got its new slim bins this week. Where better to examine the effects of the slim bins on fly tipping?
Here are the results:
As you can see, there’s a lot of fly tipping in this area. There always is bit of fly tipping, but this is far in excess of what there was before the slim bins started to roll out across the town. The place is a mess and if the slim bins haven’t caused this increase, they’ve certainly not helped to decrease the problem.
The ball’s in your court, Nick.