Biggleswade Town Council could step in to clear Bonds Lane fly-tipping if Central Beds fails to act
Fly-tipped waste on Bonds Lane in Biggleswade could be removed by the town council, if pleas to Central Bedfordshire Council to take action prove fruitless, a meeting heard.
Rubbish piled up opposite the street’s business premises has become rat-infested, town councillors were warned last month.
But CBC’s environmental services department appears willing to get the mess removed, after concerns raised by local ward and town councillors.
The Central Bedfordshire Community Network Biggleswade West councillor Paul How asked at a CBC meeting last month “when will there be enforcement action and what measures will be put in place to stop the problem reoccurring?”.
Independent Biggleswade West councillor Steve Watkins replied that council officers are aware of the situation and a written answer would be provided to the questions.
At a BTC meeting, town clerk Peter Tarrant noted a response to its letter is still to be received from CBC, saying: “We can intervene, although it’s not our legal responsibility to do so.
“It might be in the circumstances a one-off solution, if this isn’t repeated. But there’s an expectation on CBC to do what it should and we’ve reminded the local authority of its obligations without success. It’s certainly getting worse.”
Conservative Biggleswade East Central Bedfordshire and ward councillor Grant Fage said: “My understanding is this will be cleared now.
“It’s been complicated because some of the waste is historic, going back several years and not associated with some of the businesses there.
“Some has perhaps been left during the turnover of traders vacating the area and part potentially attributed to businesses that are still there. It’s with environmental services at Central Beds and there’s an intention to get this cleared.
“One thing that’s concerning is that the ‘fix my street’ entry, which is how you report fly-tipping, was posted last November and closed in February because it became aged and wasn’t investigated.
“A CBC group leader is following up on why some of these ‘fix my street’ entries are being closed without being investigated.”
BTC’s head of governance and strategic partnership Karim Hosseini told the meeting: “We wrote to CBC’s environmental health department separately, just to follow up.
“It confirmed the department is aware there’s an issue,” he explained. “It’s educating businesses around responsible disposal of waste. When we asked what’s happening with the current clear-up, the reply was they’re looking into it.
“We saw the Bedfordshire Police community support officer, who stated that historically there’ve been issues there. Her view is that something needs to be done about it.”
Town councillor Duncan Strachan added: “It concerns me that CBC isn’t clearing this up, as it’s a health hazard. If it’s part of CBC’s statutory duties, then it should fulfil them.”
Mayor Jonathan Woodhead mentioned three options, allowing CBC to resolve the situation, asking Central Beds to hastily remove the waste, or “sorting it ourselves, with the associated costs”.
He suggested “letting councillor Fage pursue this a little longer” and “we consider doing it ourselves”, if nothing has happened by next month’s BTC meeting.