Page 10 - Frittenden Parish Mag - July - 2021
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                                                                                          TWBC website ( tunbridgewells.gov.uk/
      Fly-tipping …                                                                       bins-and-recycling/report-fly-tipping )  List of organisations
                                                                                                                                  Frittenden Community Facebook page -
                                                                                          The aim is then to get it cleared within 3
      a bane of our                                                                       days. Which in my experience is often the   so many things you don’t need or use are
                                                                                                                                  often just what another villager wants.
                                                                                          case and this target is achieved. They can
      village life                                                                        clear fly-tipping on publicly accessible land   Hospice in the Weald Furniture Collection –
                                                                                                                                  2-3 week lead time. www.hospiceintheweald.
                                                                                          but NOT from private land or property. If
                                                                                                                                  org.uk/our-shops/your-donations
                                                                                          the fly tip is on the road or highway and it is
                                                                                          causing an obstruction you should contact   www.smallsforall.org – donate new
                                                                                          Kent County Council on 03000 41 81 81.  or lightly used bras or new knickers to
      The magazine team have asked our local   The real impact, however, isn’t a financial one.
      councillor, Andy Fairweather, and a local   When you spend your life looking after the   So what do you think? Is the Council doing   women and girls in Africa and the UK.
      farmer, Paul Hope, for their views.    land and earning your living from it, the fact   enough to prevent and/or remove fly-  https://freecycle.org Nonprofit who
                                             that someone can just dump their rubbish and   tipping? Is it fair the farmers have to pay to   are giving and getting stuff for free in
      Paul Hope, farmer                                                                                                           their own Towns. It’s all about reuse and
                                             run is utterly soul-destroying. Our Garden   clear rubbish on the road-side of their field
      Fly-tipping is one of the banes of a farmer’s   of England is fast turning into the Dumping   boundaries? What else might be done to   keeping good stuff out of landfill!
      life, featuring right up there with theft of   Ground of England and the repercussions   prevent this problem? Do let us know…  Local Hygiene Bank, Co-Op Cranbrook –
      farm machinery and livestock worrying.   for the fly-tippers seem to be non-existent.  With the refuse truck still suspended due to   donate new, unused, in date toiletries, nappies
      The quiet country lanes and isolated fields   Andy Fairweather, Ward Member         COVID, are our readers aware how we can rid of   and sanitary products to local people in need.
      that we love are also a fly-tipper’s dream.
                                             for Frittenden and Sissinghurst,             household rubbish? We’ve done some research,   Many of the local charity shops are also
      What is the impact on a landowner when   Tunbridge Wells Borough Council            but before you discard, remember the three Rs:   eager for new donations of good quality
      somebody dumps their rubbish on their land?                                                                                 clothes, books and other treasures.
      This is dependent on the nature of the rubbish   Recently we have suffered a spate of fly tipping   Can it be Repaired,     Council links
      and the size of the load, but the obvious impact   in Frittenden and Sissinghurst. A great many   Can it be Recycled,       tunbridgewells.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/
      is a financial one. A few years ago, somebody   residents have contacted me and I have been   Could it be Re-used?          what-goes-in-your-bin/additional-items
      opened the field gate at the end of Staplehurst   working with officers from the town hall to   Comments to:                £45.60 per pick up for up to 5 bulky items (to
      Road and generously deposited a whole lorry-  address this. They have visited our parishes and   frittendenparishmagazine@gmail.com  include no more than 1 fridge or freezer).
      load of waste in the field. Despite the owner of the   provided new signage. I admit these are too small
      waste being identified, there was no prosecution   and placed in difficult to see/read positions. I have
      and we picked up the bill for clearing the rubbish.  fed this back. There are a few larger signs in more
                                             effected areas and I have managed to find at least
      There is also an environmental impact. We’ve had   one. The council have purchased new surveillance
      dirty disposable nappies, human waste along with   cameras to be deployed to Borough hotspots.
      wet wipes, black bags full of household rubbish,   I am informed it is never disclosed when and
      the remnants of a cannabis factory and even   where due to a high level of thefts in the past.
      burnt-out cars. All of these can be dangerous to   These new cameras cost upwards of £1,000 each.  NECK     KNEE     BACK PAIN     SPORTS
      our livestock, the wildlife and watercourses.
                                             Officers have identified one source of                 INJURIES     SPRAINS & STRAINS
      The councils won’t clear anything more than   fly tipping in Frittenden Rd and have
      18 inches from the road edge. We went to war   issued a £400 penalty notice.                         High Street, Staplehurst, TN12 0AD
      with TWBC when a large pile of fly-tipping   I think we are really hot on reporting fly tipping      01580 892266
      appeared in a gateway on Mill Lane. They   in our ward and I know many residents are fully
      claimed it was on our land, we believed it was   aware how to do this. I also report regularly when
      on theirs. It took 9 months and a threat from   I see dumped waste as I travel about between   SUE SMITH. Grad.Dip.Phys., MCSP. HCPC.
      us to claim the land around the gateway before   our two villages. However, a reminder below.  Serving the community for over 25 years.
      it was cleared away. Desperate measures!

      10    Frittenden Parish Magazine July/August 2021                                                                                 Frittenden Parish Magazine July/August 2021    11
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