Angela Fonso, co-ordinator for Clean Air for Southall and Hayes (CASH) writes about the issues and impact fly-tipping has on Southall and its residents and calls on Ealing Council to tackle it properly.
“Fly-tipping in Southall has been a long standing issue but in the last two years has reached what can only be described as an epidemic level.
“Fly-tipping isn’t just happening off the beaten track but our pavements are full of mattresses, bed divans, bags of food waste, broken furniture and the most eye catching of which was large industrial equipment from a factory or workshop, dumped on the pavement on Western Road opposite Brilliant restaurant.
“A resolute resident has photographed daily fly-tips for twenty two consecutive days from January 2025 which appear to be a combination of domestic and commercial waste on the Green in Southall, opposite the parade of restaurants and other shops. Residents both local and from further afield have expressed their disgust on social media at the state of the pavement and although cleared daily, an oily residue is often left behind.
“The most heartbreaking photographic images are those of parents with primary schoolchildren and the elderly unsteady on their feet struggling to get past obstructions which nearly block pavements. Residents are outraged that pavements have been turned into dustbins and for one wheelchair user, she is so depressed and anxious about going out and about, now feels like a prisoner in her own home.
“Fly-tipping on Southall’s pavements is a daily occurrence and some perpetrators are unafraid to dump their bin bags and even mattresses in daylight. There has been a rise in the number of young students from India seeking accommodation in Southall and an increase in rooms advertised on Nextdoor Neighbours to meet the demand. Some lodgers have been told that they are not allowed to deposit waste in the household’s wheelie bins.
“From November 2022 to November 2024 there were 6,274 reported fly-tips in Southall and there were 4,363 fixed penalty notices issued for fly tipping borough wide.1,404 of those were issued to people in Southall. Street services refer 20-40 cases a month for prosecution. Ealing Council did not disclose in response to a Freedom of Information act request, how many of these referrals resulted in successful prosecutions. Ealing Council’s enforcement ladder is known to be weak in Southall and even shopkeepers have been witnessed depositing their fruit and vegetable boxes on the pavement a short distance away from their shops.
“Catherina Pack, head of street care and waste management, in her email reply to a resident said ‘the Council enforcement officers (who are ward based) do regular compliance checks with businesses, and they also, combined with the commercial waste officer, will liaise with businesses to ensure that contracts are fit for purpose. We also monitor e.g. overflowing/overweight bins and will request that businesses have additional ‘lifts’ or additional bins where necessary. We do need to repeat this task regularly to ensure that businesses don’t fall into bad habits, and also as there is an element of transience, this helps to capture any new businesses.’
“It seems to local residents judging from the number of fly-tips on Western Road, The Green, South Road and Southall Broadway which appear to contain commercial waste, that the compliance checks are not frequent enough.
“The fly-tipping is a risk to both mental and physical health and actually discourages residents from walking for recreation and for health. I pass several fly-tip hotspots on my way to Southall Recreation Ground which is also a fly-tipping hotspot with broken double glazing units and mattresses seen as appropriate additions to a well-used green space by residents of all ages.
“I hope that many residents will attend Ealing Council’s Clean and Pleasant meeting on 15t February 2025 2.00pm – 4.00pm at the Young Adult Centre (YAC) on Park View Road.
“Councillor Paul Driscoll, cabinet member for Climate Action and Councillor Kamaljit Dhindsa, representing Southall Green ward will be attending. We need to raise our voices to a cacophony demanding that the council takes effective action to deter fly-tipping and increase the number of prosecutions.
“Residents including an elderly Sikh man who stopped for a chat when I took a photograph of a fly-tip on Scotts Road opposite Desi Radio Station, refuse to accept the fly-tipping as a normal part of our lived experience.”
A petition from residents in Southall regarding fly-tipping is online and can viewed and signed here.
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