May 9, 2022 11.32 am This story is over 22 months old

Petition calls for Lincoln tip to open longer in bid to tackle fly-tipping

Council says there’s no link between the two things
Queues at Lincoln's Household Waste Recycling Centre after it opened at the beginning of September last year. | Photo: The Lincolnite

A new petition has been launched calling for Lincolnshire County Council to extend Lincoln tip’s opening times.

Former Labour Abbey Ward councillor Bill Bilton has so far received 181 signatures calling for the Household Waste Recycling Centre on Great Northern Terrace to return to longer opening hours.

LCC closed HWRCs on Wednesdays and Thursdays after ending a booking system brought in to help with social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the facilities have since seen massive queues, particularly over bank holidays, and diverted people away on a regular basis because of full bins.

The recent May Day Bank Holiday saw the latest warning issued by LCC.

Mr Bilton’s petition said: “We the undersigned call on  Lincolnshire County Council to extend the opening hours at the Great Northern Terrace Household Waste Recycling Centre.

“We ask that firm and decisive action be taken to tackle the ever-increasing problem of both domestic and industrial fly-tipping which blights our beautiful city.”

Bill Bilton, former Labour Councillor for Abbey Ward. | Photo: Lincoln Labour

He hopes his party will present the petition to LCC and told Local Democracy Reporters: “I don’t think its an excuse for the anti-social behaviour of fly-tipping, but I believe in fairness.

“I think tax paying citizens of Lincoln should be able to dispose of their rubbish at any time.

“This should be backed up with stronger enforcement against those that break the law.”

Executive Member for waste at Lincolnshire County Council, Conservative Councillor Daniel McNally said there was “no proven link between fly-tipping and recycling centre provision”.

“It’s insulting to suggest law-abiding residents who would usually go to their local recycling centre would instead fly-tip just because they can’t visit on a Wednesday or Thursday.

“Fly-tipping is due to unscrupulous businesses who take money for disposing of waste then dump the material around the city and in the countryside.”

Councillor McNally said the authority invested £2.2million a year into HWRCs but added: “Unfortunately, there simply isn’t the money to build more, bigger sites everywhere that are open 24/7; it’s not realistic.”

He said fly-tipping was a national problem and areas elsewhere with seven-day-a-week centres “still have fly-tipping”.

“It’s not some silver bullet that will stop criminals illegally dumping rubbish on the streets.”

Councillor Daniel McNally.

He warned residents not to give their rubbish to cheap “man-with-a-van” services on social media, adding: “chances are it’ll end up in blighting our country lanes and alleyways”.

“Residents have a duty of care to ensure their waste is being disposed of legally, and anyone who passes their material to illegal operators could themselves face prosecution,” he said.

“If you’re getting someone to take away your waste, check they have a waste carriers licence.”

Mr Bilton lost his seat to the Liberal Democract candidate Christopher Martin during Thursday’s local election.