Tackling Flytipping Throughout Surrey & Sussex

This year, we’ve seen an influx of stories in the news about flytipping close to our area, for example, in locations like East Molesey and West Sussex. Improper rubbish disposal is causing big disruptions to the local community—and more needs to be done about it!

How it’s affecting the community

In February of this year, a pile of fly-tipped rubble in Vine Road, East Molesey, caused a road closure near a Surrey primary school. The incident was so bad that the nearby school, St Lawrence Church of England Primary, reached out to parents the next morning to inform them of the road closure that would impact the time it might take for children to get to school. 

So much rubble had been fly-tipped that Police were called to help clear the “large amount of rubble” strewn across the road before passing the incident on. Elmbridge Borough Council said they would get their enforcement team to visit the site, where the fly-tipping was reported to contractors for clearance and dealt with in the next 24 hours.

The council commented: “We take fly-tipping incidents very seriously and will investigate every occurrence. If there is enough evidence, we will prosecute the person responsible.”

The council’s crackdown response

To reiterate the strong message that fly-tipping and littering will not be tolerated and that they are unacceptable, the council launched an anti-litter campaign in spring and summer.

The council said it was launching an anti-litter campaign for the spring and summer to reiterate that littering and fly-tipping were “not acceptable and will not be tolerated”.

Shockingly, this is not the only fly-tipping occurrence that happened to a school nearby

In April of this year, a school in the West Sussex area was the victim of another fly-tipping episode. But this time, the school had to wait weeks for the pile of builder’s waste to be cleared and removed.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Bognor Regis reported waste being dumped in its car park on March 29, 2024. 

“It’s bathroom and kitchen fittings, bicycle wheels, broken glass and foodstuff, which we’re concerned attracts vermin,” Headteacher Peter Edgington told BBC Radio Sussex.

Uncertainty around the responsibility of removing the waste meant the fly-tipped rubbish had been on the school’s site for over a month. However, initially, the Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council responded that the clearance of the fly-tipping was the school’s responsibility. 

Headteacher Peter Edgington commented: “You can’t rule out the possibility of asbestos in there. It is stuff that shouldn’t be around anyone – let alone young children.” BBC.

And with a lot of press and media attention, Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council finally changed their response:

“Unfortunately, it is the school’s responsibility to maintain it, including the clearance of fly-tipping. However, due to the confusion the school has experienced, which may have led to delays in resolving the matter, we have offered to collect and dispose of the rubbish on this occasion.”

If you’re struggling to get rid of fly-tipped rubbish or know where it exists in the county, let us know. We’re a rubbish clearance company dedicated to keeping the community clean. Call us on 0800 138 9100.