Cheshire East Council has apologised for the delay in introducing mobile waste sites to Congleton – five years on from the tip’s closure.
The apology came after illegally dumped waste, including piles of broken furniture, a fridge/freezer and torn bin bags, were left on Park Street for more than two weeks.
Coun Rob Moreton said Congleton Town Council had reported the incident to Cheshire East at the beginning of June, but it had still not been removed.
He said: “Incidents such as those on Park Street are having a significant impact on the appearance of our amazing town.
“We all have a responsibility to keep Congleton clean and tidy, and somewhere we can be proud to call home.”
He went on: “Since the shameful closure of our local recycling centre, I have repeatedly called for regular pop-up recycling and waste collection sites to be introduced in Congleton, and I will continue to campaign for this.”
The promise of temporary waste sites was first made after the closure of the household waste recycling centre on Barn Road in September 2021.
Speaking at the Cheshire East meeting in May 2021 when members made the decision not to renew the lease on the site, Coun Laura Crane, who was the Cabinet member responsible for waste at the time, said: “The report (to close the tip) proposes mitigation measures that could reduce the number of trips that residents would need to make.
“These include pop-up sites, as well as other options that we hope will be available under the new contract.
“With regard to the impact on the Macclesfield household waste and recycling centre … we estimate an increase of around 28%.”
Figures recorded by Congleton Town Council over the following years showed a spike in fly-tipping.
In the lead-up to the closure, October 2020 to September 2021, 124 incidents were reported.
October 2022 to September 2023 recorded 229 cases and in 2023, the town spent £14,955 clearing up fly-tipped waste, compared to just £5,380 in 2020 – which included the period when all tips were closed due to covid. The 2019 figure was just £2,324.
At a town council Finance Committee meeting in February 2024, it was revealed that the town had spent 50% more than anticipated on its street-cleaning and fly-tipping budget in the previous year.
The “Chronicle” asked Cheshire East Council when it planned to introduce pop-up waste sites to Congleton.
Coun David Jefferay, Cabinet member for environment, sustainability and waste management, said: “We apologise for the delay in the introduction of mobile household waste recycling centres.
“We are working to resolve outstanding legal and operational requirements as quickly as possible and will confirm further details, including how residents can access and book these services, once arrangements are finalised.”
The town council’s Streetscape manager Doug Christie explained that he had reported the illegally dump on Park Street to Cheshire East on Tuesday, 2nd June and had now received a reply to say it could now be removed.
He explained that while small fly tips on public land could quickly be cleared by Streetscape, larger piles containing unusual items or those on public highways or private land first had to be investigated by Cheshire East.
He said: “With this one, residents have been storing their wheelie bins on the pavements, which has caused big issues for accessibility. Someone doing a house renovation has seen all the bins and added bits of broken furniture and it’s gone on from there.
“Now that I’ve had the go-ahead from Cheshire East, we’ll be able to have it all removed over the next couple of days.”
