Croydon council to crack down on waste costs with new scheme

Fly tipping in Norbury Park, Croydon. Pic: Cleaner Croydon (Flickr)

A new scheme by Croydon council will require residents to provide identification before they can use council-run tips.

 

Anyone not providing photo ID and proof of address to use the household refuse and recycling centres (HRRCs), located on Brighton Road and North Downs Road, could be denied access. 

The scheme is being introduced on April 3 to clamp down on residents from other boroughs using Croydon’s facilities. It will ensure there are no additional waste disposal costs from residents of other boroughs passed on to Croydon residents. 

 

Describing the new directive, Stuart Collins, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for Clean Green Croydon, said the scheme will hopefully reduce queues at the tips and make sure that only Croydon residents are using the centres. 

 

The council hopes to encourage better waste disposal and reduce the incidents of fly-tipping. Since 2013, when the Don’t Mess With Croydon campaign began to stop fly-tipping and environmental crimes, the council has prosecuted 143 people for dumping rubbish illegally on the streets.

 

The council’s latest successful conviction was last Wednesday (March 8) when a fly-tipper was fined £5,670, proving the council is determined to stamp out this anti-social behaviour.  

 

Nuhur Mulindwa,  56, who dumped waste twice in Bramble Close, ditched his proposed court appeal claiming it was not him, when confronted with pictures taken on a resident’s mobile phone. 

 

Mulindwa, of Shrublands Avenue, Shirley, abandoned his case at Croydon Crown Court last Friday (March 3) and was ordered to pay an additional £1,500 in costs on top of the original sentence, as well as carry out 250 hours of unpaid community service plus pay a £60 victim surcharge. 

 

Cllr Collins told Eastlondonlines: “This is a great result. Mr Mulindwa’s decision to appeal his original sentence speaks volumes about the sheer arrogance of fly-tippers who think they can dump rubbish on our streets and get away with it – in some cases even after they have been found guilty in court.  

 

“But the case also says a lot about the tenacity of our residents and our council, who are equally determined that they will not put up with fly-tipping anymore and will robustly defend any challenges to prosecutions. 

“Big thanks to the residents who came forward with this evidence and helped us to bring this perpetrator to justice. I would urge others to do the same and back our Don’t Mess With Croydon campaign by helping us take action against people who dump rubbish illegally in our borough.” 

 

Croydon magistrates had sentenced Mulindwa on two counts of fly-tipping back in August 2016 after he was found guilty. 

  

Sentencing him last August, District Judge Kamlesh Rana said: “These are very serious offences which you committed deliberately and you committed for financial gain.” 

 

To help Don’t Mess With Croydon you can call their fly-tipping hotline on 0208 604 7000, emailflytip@croydon.gov.uk or use  My Croydon smartphone app.  

  

 

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