Norwich: Fly-tipping spate in Marl Pit Lane area hot spot

Large furniture items have been found dumped around Knowland Grove in the Wensum ward area of the city, off Marl Pit Lane.

The abandoned waste, which has since been cleared by council representatives, included a sofa, sofa bed, bedside tables and other household items.

A sofa which has been fly-tipped in Knowland Grove, Norwich (Image: Liam Calvert)

Norwich City Council encourages incidents of fly-tipping - whatever the scale - to be reported to the body to be investigated and cleared.

But last year only one fine of £270 was issued by the council for fly-tipping, despite communities and councillors regularly reporting incidents in their spare time in a bid to combat the issue.

A sofa dumped to the rear of bins in Knowland Grove, Norwich (Image: Liam Calvert)

Liam Calvert, the Green Party city council candidate for Wensum ward, likened the contents of the dumping to someone moving house. 

"Fly-tipping is a real blight in a lot of our communities with the area around Knowland Grove a prime example," he explained.

Household items dumped in Knowland Grove in Norwich's Wensum ward (Image: Liam Calvert)

"Every time I’m in the area to talk to people I have to report dumped items from fridges to sofas and everything in between.

"We really need the local councils to do more.

Liam Calvert is calling for councils to implement CCTV to catch fly-tipping offenders (Image: Liam Calvert)

"They need CCTV in place to catch offenders and they need to scrap the collection fee for large items.

"Taking a large item to the tip is free by car but in many of the areas affected more than 40% of households don’t have access to a car or van.

Fly-tipping in Knowland Grove, Norwich (Image: Liam Calvert)

"Every fly-tipped item that the council collects costs money that could be better spent elsewhere."

He added that more cost-effective ways to dispose of waste, especially for those without their own modes of transport, should be encouraged and enforced.

Fly-tipping in Knowland Grove, Norwich (Image: Liam Calvert)

Charges per 80-litre sack or single item at DIY waste centres across Norfolk include £5 for unsorted/non-recyclable waste such as soil, UPVC and flat glass, £3 for timber, and £4 per tyre with a maximum of five disposed of per month.

A spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: "The council has launched the Love Norwich – play your part campaign to tackle environmental crime and to keep the city looking its best, and it’s already making a difference.

"Fly-tipping is a criminal activity and we encourage anyone who comes across fly-tipping on public land to report it to us, with as much detail as possible, through our website www.norwich.gov.uk/report.