DENBIGHSHIRE Council needs to get tougher on fly-tippers dumping rubbish in rural areas, says a concerned councillor.
Cllr Chris Evans has urged the local authority to take stronger enforcement action against fly-tippers.
He separately called on them to address concerns over rubbish accidentally spilling from council bin wagons.
Cllr Evans says some residents are dumping household rubbish next to public bins, only for seagulls and foxes to tear open bin bags, harming both wildlife and farm animals.
The Tremeirchion councillor said he has sent emails to Denbighshire Council’s heads of service, reporting problems in the village, as well as at St Asaph, Rhuallt, Denbigh, Sodom, on a rural lane between Clawdd-Newydd and Pwllglas, and Moel Famau.
“What we are having a problem with, especially around Rhuallt and rural areas, is that people haven’t got enough room in their bins.
“We’re seeing people putting household waste in bags by the public bins, and foxes or seagulls are ripping the bags open,” he said.
“Somebody has dumped three mattresses down by the roadside in a rural area.
“Two people were prosecuted from Ruthin. The bin bags are full of rubbish, one of the worst things for rural areas.
“It’s disgusting. It is mostly household waste: bread wrappers, cartons.
“A couple of farmers have come to me complaining that their animals are actually digesting the rubbish.”
Cllr Evans called on Denbighshire to get tough on offenders.
“We need better enforcement of this, to stop animals ripping the bags open and to find the till receipts to identify the people who are doing this, because it is not right,” he said.
Cllr Evans said he found multiple debit and credit card receipts in one bin bag for the same household after it had been ripped open by seagulls.
“When I looked, there was a receipt in one of the bags,” he said.
“What are your receipts doing in the bin bag? OK, it might be a fluke finding one receipt in the bag, but two or three?”
Cllr Evans also raised concerns about council bin wagons and recycling trucks.
“I’ve also been seeing a lot more bin wagons and recycling trucks contributing to rubbish falling out of recycling trucks,” he said.
“I’ve written to the heads of environment at Denbighshire County Council.
“What’s happening is they’re driving from village to village at 50mph, and the wind is blowing all the rubbish out the back.”
He added: “I had a resident follow a recycling truck from Henllan all the way back to the station in Denbigh a couple of months ago, and the back doors were open.”
A Denbighshire County Council spokesperson said: “Fly-tipping is a form of anti-social of behaviour and a criminal offence. It’s a blight on the landscape and has a negative impact on the quality of life for residents.
“The vast majority of people are law-abiding citizens who dispose of their waste responsibly through our council waste collections or by taking items to our recycling centres, and so it is disappointing to hear when cases of fly-tipping occur in Denbighshire.
“There is no excuse for dumping rubbish anywhere and the Council will not tolerate this behaviour, residents can report fly-tipping on our website https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/bins-and-recycling/report-fly-tipping.aspx”
