Communities urged to dispose of waste responsibly

Fly-tipping is a "massive problem" and waste should be disposed of responsibly otherwise it ends up with a price tag for local residents, the organisers of a series of community clean-up days have said.

The campaign in Bradford aimed to tackle the impact of fly-tipping, waste dumping and littering on estates across the city, housing provider Incommunities said.

The six days of action organised by Incommunities were are also aimed at educating people and reminding residents the price of clearing rubbish fell on them, a spokesperson explained.

Patrick Collins, the organisation's director of communities, said: "What residents need to realise is if we come and shift it, it is costing them."

The most recent council figures showed the number of reports of fly-tipping in Bradford had risen from 10,193 in 2023-24 to 10,624 in 2024-25, though the amount of material collected had dropped slightly.

Mr Collins explained that the community clean-up days involved volunteers, residents, West Yorkshire Police, Bradford Council and community payback, with activities such as litter-picking, painting, weeding, and planting shrubs.

"We're just cleaning areas up. We're moving fly-tipping , bringing out rubbish from the gardens and getting it into skips," he said.

The first day of action run by Incommunities - which was set up as a registered provider in 2003 to take over homes from Bradford Council - was held earlier in Hendford Drive and Alcester Garth.

Luke Colman, team leader of estate services with Incommunities, said those involved normally moved about two tonnes of waste a week from the area.

"We have a lot of waste build-up in this area on a weekly basis. That's excess waste from residents and people coming in and fly-tipping," Mr Colman said.

"We've got mattresses, sofas, nitrous oxide cannisters, a shed dismantled, wheelie bins full of contaminated waste. The majority of this is all just household waste."

Mr Colman said there needed to be more education on how to responsibly dispose of household waste.

He said he believed there was a behavioural problem with people used to putting waste in bags at the side of the road rather than in wheelie bins.

"There are a lot of children and families around here and it's not fair that children can't come out and enjoy their green spaces," he said.

Beverley Atkinson, who has lived in the area for 24 years, said it used to be "beautiful" but things had changed.

"When it's bad, I've had three-piece suites, bedding, all sorts, dumped out here over the years," she said.

"I'm ashamed to even bring my own family around. I don't bring no-one home.

"People just assume its all my mess because it's on the end of my grass."

Ms Atkinson said she believed the majority of the rubbish was dumped by local residents.

Mr Collins said there was an issue with people getting rid of waste inappropriately and individuals offering to remove rubbish for a fee who then just went on to dump it.

"What residents need to realise is if we come and shift it, it is costing them," he said.

He added that the action days did improve areas and also helped staff get to know their tenants better and engage with them and their concerns.

"Educating them around rubbish, we want to make sure they are recycling where they can, but also to tell us when people are dumping," Mr Collins said.

Kamran Hussain, Bradford Council's portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and community safety, said the clean-up events usually attracted an "enthusiastic response" from residents.

They allowed people to take "positive action and pride in their neighbourhoods", he said.

Further events were expected to take place across the Bradford district throughout the year, according to Incommunities.

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