Despair over fly-tipping and rats in city suburb

Fly-tippers in a city neighbourhood have been called "selfish" by a councillor after a 74-year-old spoke about the ongoing issue of rats and discarded items on his street. 

Michael Stewart-Watling, of Cherry Close, Lakenham, has complained to Norwich City Council about furniture and food waste being thrown aside on his street, Trafalgar Street and Southwell Road. 

"We want the fly-tipping to be stopped," Mr Stewart-Watling said. "We have got kids down here. It's a mess and it's been like it for three weeks.

"Nothing has been done whatsoever and there has been no attempt to clear it up." 

Mr Stewart-Watling, who has lived in Cherry Close for 26 years, said he had contacted Town Close county councillor Emma Corlett about the issue but there has been no end to the problem. 

Ms Corlett said: "The selfish behaviour of the few who chose to illegally fly-tip their waste rather than dispose of it responsibly and spoil the environment for the majority of residents is the problem.

"It is easy for residents to report fly-tipping online or over the phone and although the response time is, I believe, to be collected within a few days, all recent reports that I have made of fly-tipping there, Suffolk Square, Globe Place, Vauxhall Street and Crook’s Place have been collected the same day – within an hour if there was a risk of needles or syringes present.

"Town Close councillors are out and about across the ward every day and report in all the fly-tipping that we see, and follow-up robustly any occasions where prompt action is not taken." 

The Labour councillor visited Cherry Close on June 2 in response to Mr Stewart-Watling's complaint, and she said fly-tipping was collected that day.

A spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: “We want all residents to feel pride in the area they live and we appreciate that it’s frustrating when others spoil this with fly-tipping and other mess.

“The council will investigate all fly-tipping reports and any associated issues arising from this.

“Residents are encouraged to continue to report all issues when they happen so that we can work with contractors to resolve them as quickly as possible.”