Owen Temple

I’ve had two responses to my complaint to Peter Reynolds at Derwentside Council about tipping at the back of the Empire.

The first was a promise of action, together with some new pictures showing the willingness to dump stuff anywhere. Did they climb the ladder specially to dump stuff up there?

The second I print below, telling me that the area has been cleared.

“I understand that this site has now been cleared.  The complaint was dealt with by Ian Redshaw within Environmental Health who used our powers under Section 78 Public Health Act 1936 (Scavenging of common courtyards).

The yard was cleaned up on Wednesday 20th by our General Services operatives and the costs charged to Environmental Health.  They will in turn reclaim that sum by billing all the properties who open onto the area for a proportion of the amount.  This has been done in the past on a number of occasions when refuse has built up in the area.  Discussions will continue on the case as it is expected that we may need to do it again in the future.  A lot of the problem seems to be caused by market traders using this area as a dumping ground for their refuse on market days.”  

I’ll be down with my camera tomorrow to see if I can let you have a shot of the improvements. Obviously, though, we’re going to keep an eye on the problem. It won’t go away unless there is a long term resolution.