Litter cause of 1,000 complaints per year to Walsall Council
Around 1,000 complaints a year are being received about littering in a Black Country borough, bosses have said.
Walsall Council chiefs are taking steps to tidy up the town with clean-up days organised with Walsall Housing Group following concerns from residents.
The authority has received 3,000 complaints about dumped litter over the last three years, a report from the Safer Walsall Partnership has revealed.
The Safer Walsall Partnership comprises of a range of bodies such as the council, police, NHS Walsall, probation service and West Midlands Fire Service.
The report states: "The number of complaints about litter received by clean and green services over the last three years has remained fairly constant at around 1,000 per year.
"Results of the people's panel survey suggest that, in terms of public perception, there are particular problems of littering in Walsall, Darlaston and Willenhall town centres.
"The 'disgust' factor associated with dog fouling is also a priority for the borough's residents."
In the fight against fly-tipping, the council has launched a £100 reward initiative for information leading to a successful prosecution at court.
The report presented to leisure and community chief, Councillor Khizar Hussain, adds: "Fly tipping has been the biggest source of complaints to the council's environmental health team this financial year.
"The main type of fly tipping is household waste although the less frequent dumping of commercial waste also presents a major problem due to the size and associated cost of cleaning up the debris that has been dumped.
"It is recognised that reluctance by witnesses to give evidence makes carrying out enforcement action difficult. In an attempt to counter this, a reward scheme which pays £100 for a successful prosecution has been launched.
"Although there have been no successful prosecutions at this time, this scheme will continue, with further publicity planned. CCTV evidence is also used to support prosecutions, but this can be compromised by damage to and theft of equipment in some cases."
The council has spent £345,000 cleaning up dumped rubbish in two years. Mattresses, pieces of wood and cardboard boxes were recently dumped in the middle of a Walsall road, causing delays to traffic.
The pile of rubbish was fly-tipped in Sutton Road, at the junction of Skip Lane, and caused problems for drivers as it blocked part of the road. It is the latest fly-tipping incident in Skip Lane, and council workers were quickly on site to clear up the mess.
