Lewisham Council has reduced its previous flat rate of £42 for up to four items to just £5 per item, which it hopes will make the service more affordable and fairer for residents. The cost of a fridge/freezer collection has also been reduced from £60 to £25.
A report outlining the new changes to the service was formally agreed by Lewisham cabinet members on Wednesday evening (October 22). The council is also considering changing the opening hours of the Landmann Way Reuse and Recycling Centre to make it easier and more accessible on weekends for residents to drop off their waste.
The centre is currently open Sunday to Friday from 8am to 3.30pm and from 8am to 11.30am on Saturdays. Under the proposals, the centre would open Wednesday through to Sunday from 8am to 3.30pm.
Louise Krupski, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action, said: “We have listened to residents and have analysed the cost to our service of the horrendous fly-tipping occurring in our borough. Every day we are seeing waste being mindlessly disposed of on our pavements and green spaces – spoiling our borough for everybody.
“I personally am experiencing what it’s like to live near a fly-tipping hotspot. I can see it outside of my kitchen window every single day, it gets cleared up diligently by our waste services but it just gets filled up again and it really does cause you to feel quite demoralised because it’s just a perpetual cycle.”
Cllr Krupski added: “The costs of this are huge and we should be spending this money on vital services or things that could bring us joy like new play equipment in parks or more cycle hangars.”
In April, the council increased the maximum fines for fly-tipping and littering to £1,000 and £200 respectively in an attempt to reduce the problem.
However in the last 12 months, the council received 38,137 reports of fly-tipping incidents through its reporting app, Love Clean Streets, as well as through emails, letters and posts on social media. A cabinet report noted that this figure may not add up to actual fly-tipping incidents, as residents may have reported the same issue multiple times.
The council is also looking at piloting a “bulky waste amnesty”, which will allow residents living in Bellingham and Downham, two of the borough’s fly-tipping hotspots, to get their waste collected for free.
The council hopes the pilot will help encourage residents to use the online booking system, which can be accessed using the council’s website.
During the pilot period, the council will be closely monitoring the overall effectiveness of the service and its benefits, and will use its findings for any potential future borough-wide rollouts.
Cllr Krupski added: “We see this as an opportunity to get across our message that if you book a pick-up, it won’t cost you much and it’s convenient, but if you do fly-tip you will be fined accordingly.”
