Don’t mess with Croydon
Large-scale incidents of fly-tipping seem to be ever increasing, and though education is the key to reduction, Croydon has taken the novel approach of naming and shaming those caught to deter others. Thomas Dimech investigates
This article was taken from Issue 81Fly-tippers beware: the people of Croydon are fighting back. It’s all part of the new ‘Don’t Mess with Croydon: Take Pride’ initiative, which is empowering local residents across the borough to clean up their neighbourhoods and make fly-tippers accountable for their actions.
According to Councillor Stuart Collins, Croydon’s cabinet member for Clean and Green Croydon, prior to the scheme there was frustration amongst the local community regarding fly-tipping, as they felt abandoned by a council that did not enforce fly-tipping laws or prosecute those who broke them. “Take Pride was about communities feeling pride in their area and the council taking action”, he tells Resource. “So the minute we got in power, we decided to launch the campaign and the key message was that we wanted people to know that the council was working to make the area cleaner and greener. This is done by tracking, fining, and – eventually – prosecuting and jailing those responsible.”
