Council steps up war on waste in Hucknall

Ashfield District Council’s war on waste in Hucknall and across the Ashfield district continues.
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Latest figures show that the council has issued more than 1,000 fixed penalty notices for littering and other offences in just two months – hundreds of these in Hucknall.

The council is backing Clean Up Britain’s campaign to change people’s behaviour when it comes to the environment.

Of the 1,063 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued – there have been 12 for dog fouling, 26 for fly tipping and 22 for breaches of community protection notices relating to messy gardens and rubbish dumping.

Coun John Willmott with more fly-tipped waste in HucknallCoun John Willmott with more fly-tipped waste in Hucknall
Coun John Willmott with more fly-tipped waste in Hucknall

In addition, 102 community protection warnings have been issued and 39 PDPAs (Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949) notices have also been issued.

Notices have been served for waste accumulation, comprising of hazardous waste, food harbourage, animal faeces and bulky items.

Coun John Wilmott, who represents Hucknall North on the council, said, “One of the biggest complaints I receive is about littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping across Hucknall.

"The vast majority of Hucknall residents respect our environment – but some don’t and it’s those people we are targeting.

"In the last two months, we have issued the most fixed penalty notices since the council was created in 1974.

“These latest figures illustrate that we are keeping our promises and getting tough on those who litter and abuse our environment.

“Ashfield District Council has shown a common sense attitude to those who respect our environment.

"We were the only council in the whole of Nottinghamshire to have maintained full bin collection services during successive lockdowns.

"In fact, we actually enhanced our collections through our Bag it, Skip into Summer and Annual Spring Clean events.

"Residents in Hucknall got involved in their thousands – with many choosing to put extra bagged waste out and hundreds more taking advantage of our free bulky waste service during the spring clean.

"We are a council that is serious about helping those who play by the rules but are tough on those who don’t.”

Coun Jason Zadrozny, the council leader, is also backing Clean up Britain’s’ campaign to push for changes that they believe will force littering to be taken more seriously.

The campaign group is backed by celebrities such as ex-cricketer Andrew Flintoff, ex-footballer Gary Lineker and broadcaster Jeremy Paxman, and chaired by former Scottish rugby international Kenny Logan.

One of its aims is to ensure that councils use all their enforcement powers.

Coun Zadrozny said, “When I took over as council leader, I said that restoring pride back into our communities like Hucknall was a big priority.

"That’s why we launched our war on waste.

"The first part of this was to dramatically improve our bin collection services and we have done this with our annual spring clean which has run for three years.

“We often give residents the chance to get rid of additional rubbish with their bins via our Bag It campaigns and Spring into Summer events where bin wagons tour our district collecting additional waste.

"This is why we exercise a zero tolerance approach to those littering, fly-tipping, leaving hazardous and food waste and not cleaning up after their dogs.