But makes commercial rubbish disposal more expensive

There are signs that Ealing Council are trying hard to get to grips with the rubbish problems which have blighted the High Street and Churchfield Road for so long. Envirocrime Prevention Enforcement Officer Ruston Wyatt, along with a band of workers from the Council was photographing, examining and then taking away rubbish from hotspots along Churchfield Road yesterday.

We asked him about his activities and he told us he had issued many fines to businesses for illegally placing their rubbish on the pavement. He is making efforts to clear up the problem and will be renewing his efforts - even tackling local landlords - in the new year. He is also having discussions with local businesses about their rubbish collection.

Locals we spoke to told us expressed their displeasure that Ealing Council had announced they would be putting the price of Ealing Council Commercial Waste bags up from 96p to £1.37. One also said he found the bags extremely hard to get hold of, so occasionally has to resort to putting out his rubbish in (illegal) black plastic bags.

Janice Heskett of Vanilla said: "I have been delighted to see Ealing Council recently tearing open rubbish to try to find out who are the regular offenders. The problem is, people know they can get away with fly-tipping because the Council come and pick it up every day. It is in all our interests for this street to be nice. Some of us have tables outside and if there is rubbish near-by, that is really off-putting for customers."

She continued: "It seems counter-productive to put up the price of commercial rubbish collection when there are so many businesses flouting the law regularly for obvious reasons. It is perfectly clear to me who is fly-tipping on the road."

The owner of another business on Churchfield Road told us that he had heard only 20% of local businesses have contracts for commercial waste disposal with the Council. He said that putting the price of the bags up by such a large percentage would be counter-productive. "It must be costing Ealing Council lots of money to pick up rubbish from those businesses who fly-tip. If they keep the prices down it is more likely that people will comply."

Janice also pointed out that, although she separates her rubbish, Ealing Council do not currently re-cycle from business premises. We asked Mr Wyatt about this and he told us that businesses will be able to recycle their rubbish early in 2009.

December 5, 2008