Flytipping in St James

There has been a huge furore as a response to the mess created prior to the weekend's bulky waste collection in Exwick.

As well as being mentioned in the local press, it appears to have made national headlines in places such as The Daily Mail.

If such incidents continue, the City Council have threaten to withdraw the service.

This prompted a letter to the "Express and Echo" by Sarah Harvey who states:

"Regarding the story Householders turn city estate into rubbish tip, Echo, April 15, I think there should be bulky waste collections more often and if it was easier to take our own rubbish to the tip or recycling centre, it would stop all the fly- tipping, etc. As it is, the problem of dumping is only going to get worse."

I responded with the following (unpublished) comments:

"I couldn't agree more with Ruth Brooks' call for more collections of bulky waste ("BULKY WASTE SHOULD BE COLLECTED OFTEN" E&E 18 April 2008).

As the Labour candidate for the St James Ward, I am proud of the Exeter Labour Party manifesto promise to "review the bulk-waste collection scheme, with the aim of a possible increase in the annual number of collections and their locations."

With this commitment in place, I hope that the experience of recent weeks in Exwick, and the fly-tipping along the railway banks adjoining Blackall Road in the St James area (as depicted in the accompanying photographs), will be things of the past."

Fortunately the rubbish on the tracks in the picture right is only on a siding rather than the through line to Exmouth. But it could only be a matter time...