I shouldn't complain about poor conditions, as at least I don't have to put up with this:
Cycling in Chinese city is anything but leisurely - Yahoo! News
Cycling in Chinese city is anything but leisurely - Yahoo! News
Rough cycling
- Thread starter prState
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I do suffer waste dumping in the lanes of Surrey south of London, and on two occasions have found the road totally blocked. On one occasion I started clearing all the dumped material onto an embankment at the side of the road and was joined by a family of two adults and three kids in a 4 x 4 who all joined in, but it still took over ten minutes to clear.
On another occasion one point of the busy through route of the lanes from Addington to the B229 road was so badly blocked that the council workers just piled the waste into half of the road, leaving it one-way and marked with danger signs, doing the full clearance the next day.
On yet another occasion the waste had clearly been thrown piece by piece from a slow moving truck as it travelled along Washpond lane, littering it along it's whole length.
I've had one success though while out walking, came across two men with a large van dumping waste, so I stayed hidden behind a hedge and took careful note of the description of the two men and their van and memorised the registration number, leading to their conviction. I don't know the punishment given since they pleaded guilty so I didn't have to attend court as a witness.
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good practice
good for you Flecc, you sleuth, shame a few more folk don't follow your example, i live close to Friday Woods, a beautiful & natural spot constantly spoiled by moronic miscreants dumping their 'old' sofa & bedroom furniture, fridges & CRT TVs rolled down into age old forest gullies, obvious building materials, which should have been disposed of at the local refuse disposal not two miles away, i'm sure i'm not alone when describing this behaviour as mindless polluting vandalism which can only really be stopped if the 'public' do get involved.
Thanks Beeps, I enjoy walking as well as cycling in the local countryside and keep a constant watch for fly tippers, but they are difficult to catch.
One day I saw a small car stopped, loaded with some refuse bags, with both the driver and passenger out of the car at a spot I thought suspicious and therefore stopped my bike just beyond out of sight for a moment. However, they were a meek looking elderly couple, well dressed and very respectable looking so I cycled on.
Returning about half an hour later I saw they'd dumped the sacks in a heap just into the woods alongside where they'd parked, showing that no-one can be trusted. Naturally I kicked myself for not noting the registration number and I won't ever make that mistake again.
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One day I saw a small car stopped, loaded with some refuse bags, with both the driver and passenger out of the car at a spot I thought suspicious and therefore stopped my bike just beyond out of sight for a moment. However, they were a meek looking elderly couple, well dressed and very respectable looking so I cycled on.
Returning about half an hour later I saw they'd dumped the sacks in a heap just into the woods alongside where they'd parked, showing that no-one can be trusted. Naturally I kicked myself for not noting the registration number and I won't ever make that mistake again.
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Urban Ipswich is remarkably clean for a British town - where there is tipped litter it is notified on fixmystreet either by citizens or Councillors and soon dealt with, also there are rather a lot of CCTV cameras around 
Even when my sister visits from Reading she comments on how much cleaner it is despite Reading being a more "affluent" area!
I have never actually seen anyone in the act of flytipping but what I have noticed in "posher" Mid Suffolk (where I work) is that the bulk of the rubbish is not from construction but household waste, and seems to be a backlash from certain folk who are annoyed at Councils trying to discourage the amount of waste generated by householders by limiting the issue of wheeled bins or encouraging recycling, and as flecc points out some otherwise "respectable" people feel they have the dubious right to break the law rather than comply
it is particularly annoying when stuff is tipped so near Council facilities (often free use to householders) by people who obviously must have used a motor vehicle to get it there. Some of the tipped items surprise me, such as a big metal tank dumped just 2 miles away from a recycling plant during times when scrap prices were higher and they would have paid good money for it.. (it was unfortunately way too big for me to attach to my bike and weigh it in myself, the thought did cross my mind )
Even when my sister visits from Reading she comments on how much cleaner it is despite Reading being a more "affluent" area!
I have never actually seen anyone in the act of flytipping but what I have noticed in "posher" Mid Suffolk (where I work) is that the bulk of the rubbish is not from construction but household waste, and seems to be a backlash from certain folk who are annoyed at Councils trying to discourage the amount of waste generated by householders by limiting the issue of wheeled bins or encouraging recycling, and as flecc points out some otherwise "respectable" people feel they have the dubious right to break the law rather than comply
it is particularly annoying when stuff is tipped so near Council facilities (often free use to householders) by people who obviously must have used a motor vehicle to get it there. Some of the tipped items surprise me, such as a big metal tank dumped just 2 miles away from a recycling plant during times when scrap prices were higher and they would have paid good money for it.. (it was unfortunately way too big for me to attach to my bike and weigh it in myself, the thought did cross my mind
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The Environment Agency web site provides information on what to do and who to contact to report fly-tipping.
Environment Agency - What to do if you come across fly-tipping
Environment Agency - What to do if you come across fly-tipping
Thanks Barry. My local council has a dedicated phone number for all aspects of fly tipping reporting, so others may have a similar arrangement.
It's a particularly severe problem where I live since it's right on the Surrey/London border so plenty of tempting tipping opportunities for the urban population.
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It's a particularly severe problem where I live since it's right on the Surrey/London border so plenty of tempting tipping opportunities for the urban population.
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A problem in west London at least is at the re-cycling points where people dump large masses of cardboard, bundled newspapers and polystyrene etc.
It's obviously material that has been dumped there by shops and small businesses for which they would be charged if they took it to the dump.
In order to get the the re-cycle skips you'd have to climb over all this stuff so people just throw their own on top.
Disgusting, like the people who do it.
It's obviously material that has been dumped there by shops and small businesses for which they would be charged if they took it to the dump.
In order to get the the re-cycle skips you'd have to climb over all this stuff so people just throw their own on top.
Disgusting, like the people who do it.
South London as well Lemmy, and often large quantities of flattened cardboard boxes stuffed into paper recycling bins, leaving no room for their legitimate use.
Taking into account the costs of these widespread troubles and the scale of flytipping and huge cost of clearing that, I think it would make sense for recycling and refuse centres to have free use for everyone, trade and public. I'm sure that would ultimately be no more expensive to run, and if coupled with a doubling of the penalties for fly tipping should minimise that social ill.
The theory that high waste disposal costs will persuade business to recycle has obviously failed for a very high proportion of smaller businesses. The opposite policy of free disposal will probably work very much better.
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Taking into account the costs of these widespread troubles and the scale of flytipping and huge cost of clearing that, I think it would make sense for recycling and refuse centres to have free use for everyone, trade and public. I'm sure that would ultimately be no more expensive to run, and if coupled with a doubling of the penalties for fly tipping should minimise that social ill.
The theory that high waste disposal costs will persuade business to recycle has obviously failed for a very high proportion of smaller businesses. The opposite policy of free disposal will probably work very much better.
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