MP Peter Dowd rolled up his sleeves and joined Sefton Council’s #WFT Why Fly Tip? campaign in Bootle today (Friday 19^th July).

As part of Friday’s clean-up event, the Council and its partners Riverside Housing and One Vision Housing delivered six skips that local residents were be able to use to dispose of unwanted items free of charge. Additionally, Plus Dane Housing Association provided a caged tipper and two operatives for the day to help resident dispose of bulky items.

Signs of success

Today’s event came at the end of the #WFT Why Fly Tip? campaign’s second week. Focused on streets in Bootle where properties have shared rear entries, the campaign is already showing signs of success.

While street cleansing teams have been clearing the shared rear entries of dumped rubbish and larger items, staff have been calling door to door - at around 1,000 properties so far - talking to residents about the issue of fly tipping. As the campaign progresses, they will be making return visits to monitor the situation.

Mr Dowd’s latest local clean-up came as reports of the Why Fly Tip campaign start to emerge.

Nicer place  

Peter Dowd MP said: “I very much welcome Sefton Council’s Why Fly Tip? initiative.

“I enjoyed getting down there today to help with the clean-up.

“It was good to meet local residents and talk to them about what we can do to make it easy for them to prevent this build-up of rubbish and unwanted items and make the area a nicer place in which to live and work.”

Message getting through

Cllr Peter Harvey, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member for Cleansing and Street Scene said: “I am pleased to report that those areas we have already cleared in the last two few weeks, have so far stayed clear, so it seems the message is getting through.

“I am also glad to hear the feedback from local residents that they welcome the Why Fly Tip? campaign and want us to focus on identifying those people who are dumping items in shared rear entries and other areas.

“We are also reminding people that we can and will take action against anyone we find is fly-tipping, which can lead to a £400 fine.”

Free-to-use skips

Sefton Council, Riverside Housing and One Vision Housing each provided two free-to-use skips for today’s clean-up. They were located on Bedford Road and on Beatrice, Benedict, Hero and Ursula streets.

In addition, Council Street Cleansing staff carried out a litter pick in the area.

Campaign

Sefton Council launched the #WFT Why Fly Tip? campaign on Tuesday 9th July supported by cabinet members, Cllrs Liz Dowd and Peter Harvey and ward Councillors, Brenda O’Brien and Dave Robinson. Representatives from Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and local housing organisations also attended.

You can use this link to find details of #WFT Why Fly Tip?. 

The microsite reminds residents of the unwanted and potentially unhealthy outcomes of attracting neighbours like rats and flies and also the hazards that dumped rubbish can present.

At the launch Cllr Harvey said the Council was presenting people with stark facts with the aim of stopping the problem of fly-tipping re-occurring in the long term. 

The campaign was made possible through the Council’s successful application for funding through the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) Fly-Tipping Intervention Grant scheme. 

Find out more about the WFT campaign.