Fly-tipping so bad in one street that wheelchairs or buggies cannot get by

A street has become so plagued by fly-tipping that wheelchairs and buggies are often unable to get through it.

Aldeburgh Street sits in Greenwich Peninsula, just west of Charlton. Residents of the street have sent a petition to Greenwich council, which has received 108 signatures, asking for the authority to take measures to prevent fly-tipping in the area, which they said is a “daily occurrence”.

Eric Lanza, 32, moved to Aldeburgh Street two years ago. He said many residents are in a local WhatsApp group to warn each other when waste has been dumped on the street.

Mr Lanza said: “There are always people dropping rubbish on the street. Sometimes I see boxes all around the place. Foxes just go into bags and break them apart and all the rubbish gets spread around… It looks messy.”

He added: “We have neighbours that go around every now and then and pick the rubbish around here and in the park. We try to keep it clean as a community.”

Greenwich Council documents said the authority’s street services had received 20 reports of fly-tipping in Aldeburgh Street since April 2023.

Sarah Foot, 30, has lived on Aldeburgh Street for nine years. She said people often pull up to the road in cars and toss bags of rubbish and an assortment of items at the end of the street.

Ms Foot said: “Animals would rip the bags apart and then it would just be everywhere, which is gross and annoying. But honestly, there’s been anything from armchairs, old dishwashers and really bulky stuff. I know quite a few people on the street that would walk down with a buggy or a wheelchair and the rubbish is just so in the way that it means that they have to figure out getting around the cars and then go on the road, which isn’t as safe.”

The petition sent to Greenwich Council calls on the authority to add a kerb build out, large planting and a CCTV camera to Aldeburgh Street to try to reduce fly-tipping.

Greenwich council officers said in a report that CCTV cameras were primarily placed in town centre locations and that Aldeburgh Street was not covered. They added that a temporary mobile camera was being considered for the area, but emphasised that CCTV footage alone was not enough to enforce convictions or fines on those illegally dumping waste.

Council officers said in their report that the authority’s taskforce team to deal with fly-tipping had been increased by 50 per cent recently to operate for five days a week across Plumstead, Charlton, Abbey Wood and Woolwich.

A Greenwich council spokesman said: “We take residents’ concerns about fly-tipping very seriously and it is something we’re committed to tackling across Royal Greenwich. In the last year, we reduced fly-tipping borough-wide by 12.75 per cent and will continue to work towards reducing this even further.”

The spokesperson said the council’s street services team visit Aldeburgh Street weekly for scheduled cleaning, with all fly-tips being cleared within 48 hours of being reported and the majority being removed within 24 hours.

They said additional staff had recently been included to tackle fly-tipping in the borough and the authority was considering adding temporary CCTV to Aldeburgh Street.

Pictured top: Eric Lanza, 32, said Aldeburgh Street looked “messy” from all the waste left on it (Picture: Joe Coughlan)