Last updated at 18:47, Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Fly-tipping at a Carlisle supermarket recycling centre has left customers “disgusted”.
Rubbish at the recycling area at Tesco’s Rosehill store
Piles of rubbish next to recycling bins at Rosehill’s Tesco have prompted customers to complain to the News & Star.
The recycling facilities at the centre include containers for plastics, glass and cardboard, as well as Salvation Army and Oxfam clothes and shoe donation boxes.
The debris includes plastic bags, empty beer crates, food packaging and parts of a discarded Christmas tree.
The messy state of the recycling facility comes amid controversy across the county after Cumbria County Council launched a consultation over its proposal to close seven of the county’s 14 household waste recycling centres.
Councillors and users have reacted angrily to the proposals and argue that the county council is making a mistake. Many say that fewer recycling centres would lead to an increase in fly-tipping across the county.
Customers doing their recycling at the Tesco centre agreed.
Marie Nicholson, from near Brampton, said: “It’s an absolute mess and it must have been fly-tipping.
“I’ve been before and it’s been a mess but it’s not usually this bad. It’s a health hazard.
“I usually go to Brampton recycling centre which they are talking about closing.
“I don’t know what I would do without it.”
Denton Holme residents William and Margaret Miller were equally unhappy about the situation.
William said: “It’s an absolute disgrace and people wonder why there’s vermin about.
“Why has it come to this?
“Recycling was going to be great but how much worse is it going to be when the centres close?”
Margaret said: “This is the first time I’ve been to Tesco to recycle and this is caused by pure laziness.”
Councillor Ray Bloxham, portfolio holder for environment and housing, said: "Fly-tipping is an unnecessary nuisance which could result in hefty fines for those who are caught out and can also attract arson attacks. It is an illegal act and we encourage residents to contact us with any information which could provide help to find those who dump rubbish.
“Our recycling team make regular visits to the Tesco site and have reported that the fly-tipping is residual waste which should not be dumped on the site. We are meeting up with Tesco to look at ways to tackle the fly-tipping problem.”
The proposed closure of the centre at Brampton has attracted particular criticism as the centre cost £1.2m and only opened in March 2009.
Carlisle City Council leader Mike Mitchelson has referred to the proposal as ‘ludicrous’ and suggestions for alternative ideas include reducing the amount of hours.
Tesco declined to comment when contacted.
First published at 17:04, Wednesday, 18 January 2012 Published by newsandstar.co.uk
Have your say
I can’t understand how if people can take stuff to be recycled they can’t take it away again if the bins are full.Perhaps we could get a statement as to just who IS responsible for keeping the skips etc emptied and the site clean. I’m sure Envrinomental Health will be very interested as the likelihood of rats increasing close to a major food outlet is surely a major concern.Tesco have big signs at the car park entrance stating “Camera Controlled Car Park” surely these can quite easily be trained onto the recycling area and culprits identified, though if it is private land any action will presumably be down to Tesco.What I really have trouble getting my head around is, How do so many people have to take their recycling when it is collected from houses, or does it not happen out of town? Perhaps identification of culprits could solve this one??