Resident Questions for Housing Area Panel

Reference Number: W3.1

Department

Environment 

Date question raised

20.10.2022

Week of Area Panel

12.12.2022 

Area in city

West

Star rating applied by residents

3

Deadline for officer response

Wednesday 16th November 2022

Name of officer responding

Max Smith

Officer job title

Environmental Enforcement Operations Manager

Resident Question

Title of Question

Disposal of Bulky items

Issue:

Ingram Crescent has problems with residents dumping bulky items in and around the flats. These are items which are difficult and costly to dispose of – cookers, mattresses, sofas. It makes the area unsightly, obstructs access and attracts vermin.

Background:

This is a major, on-going problem in many areas of the city. No solution has been found and there are concerns that it will get worse as people become less able to afford disposal charges.

It was agreed that creative solutions need to be looked at together with residents.
Some initial suggestions from the meeting were:

·         Regular estate clean-ups where skips are placed on the estate (this has been done in the past)

·         A designated area on the estate where items can be put while awaiting collection and which would cause less disruption

·         Action taken on Estate walk-abouts

·         More information for residents on recycling options eg Facebook market place and Freecycle

·         Greater facilitation of recycling possibilities

·         Better education and information for residents on disposal of large items.

Action requested by residents:

Discussion at Area Panel on possible solutions to the problem of bulky waste disposal.

Officer Response

Officer contact details:

Max.Smith@brighton-hove.gov.uk

 

Officer Response:

CCTV is installed at Ingram Crescent outside Lovegrove Court. As a result, there has been a huge reduction in bulky waste fly tipping. Requests for CCTV must go through Housing as they now have their own movable CCTV that the Environmental Enforcement Team monitors on their behalf.

 

To arrange for estate clean-ups or to have a designated area on the estate for bulky waste, this would need to go through Housing.

 

Information is provided on the BHCC website for alternative options to get rid of bulky items. The extract is here:

 

Other ways to get rid of large or bulky items

If your item is in good condition, you could donate it to organisations in the city. You may also be able to take items to our recycling sites.

 

You can also download the ZeroNet app from Tech-Takeback to get your small electrical items collected from your home for free.

Neither our bulky waste service, nor any of the above services, can be used to get rid of building waste created by a trader or building company.

 

Trade and building companies must, by law, dispose of waste themselves legally or use a registered waste company.

You may be able to find a waste service on LoveJunk, an online marketplace for waste removal and reuse.

 

The Estates Service Team collects reported fly-tipping. We have a collection time of 7 working days from the day we received the report. Furniture items that are in a good condition can be collected free of charge and we will place these in our furniture recycling scheme.

 

The Estates Service team are considering other ways to enable the clearing of bulk waste.

Action:

To consider redeploying the camera at an alternative location within the Ingram Estate. We can reinstall the camera back in the location should fly tipping restart.

 

Start date:

01/12/2022

 

 

End date:

31/01/2022