Council plan to stop fly tipping on Cottenham road with a permanent gate
A council is planning to erect a permanent gate across a fly-tipping hotspot in after villagers in Cottenham voiced their anger over continued dumping of rubbish – a problem on the rise across the district.
South Cambridgeshire District Council is asking people to comment on the proposals for a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that would cover Setchel Drove.
If agreed, the order would allow the council to put a gate across the road with a code only given to those people with a genuine need for access, such as farmers who work on nearby fields and members of a fishing club.
Cllr Neil Gough, the council’s deputy leader and one of two local members for Cottenham, said: “Setchel Drove is a site that is particularly prone to fly-tipping and my fellow member for Cottenham, Cllr Eileen Wilson, and I were appalled when we saw the scale of the problem last year.
“We committed to get some action and this consultation is the culmination of working with the local farmers, residents and officers from South Cambridgeshire District Council to find ways to address this problem. We are consulting on the installation of a gate to Setchel Drove which would provide an important physical barrier to deter any fly-tippers.
Cllr Wilson, added: “I have been shocked by the amount of fly-tipping that I have seen on Setchel Drove and I am angry about the impact that it has on landowners and residents as well as on the environment.”
The council’s plan to restrict vehicle access by installing a lockable gate is legally done by introducing a PSPO.
Anyone tampering with the gate without permission could then be fined £100 or prosecuted for being in breach of the PSPO.
The gate would be locked 24 hours a day, with authorised key holders and emergency service vehicles able to get through it at any time.
In 2018, there were 926 recorded incidents of fly-tipping across South Cambridgeshire. In 2017, the figure was 902. In 2016 it was 713 and in 2015 it was 708.
Cllr Bill Handley, the council’s lead cabinet member for environmental services and licensing, added: “Fly-tipping anywhere is a disgusting blight on the countryside and there is simply no excuse for it.
A six-week consultation about the proposal has started and continues until Wednesday, July 10.
To have a say, visit scambs.gov.uk/consultations.