Leeds continues ‘crackdown on wheelie bins’ with resident convictions

The council explained that the fines and costs for waste related breaches of the Inner North West Public Space Protection Order (PSPO).

The PSPO enabled environmental enforcement officers to act against 16 residents across Headingley and Hyde Park, which gave them “increased powers to prosecute persistent offenders”.

This action follows 19 previous court prosecutions in March 2023 across the inner north west, amassing fines and court expenses totalling £5,276.59 (see letsrecycle.com story).

A PSPO was introduced across Headingley and Hyde Park in 2020 and was renewed in 2023 following concerns raised by the community about the large number of bins being permanently left out by some residents, often overflowing and causing litter and obstructions, attracting vermin and encouraging fly tipping.

This stipulates that householders must only present their domestic waste bin from 6pm on the night before scheduled collection and be returned inside the property boundary by no later than 9pm on the collection day.

Leeds council said it applies “common sense and proportionality” in enforcing the PSPO and aims to work with householders to rectify issues prior to enforcement.

“All households had received multiple warnings prior to the receipt of a fixed penalty notice, which they chose not to pay resulting in their appearance in court,” the council reasoned.

‘Fed up’

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds city council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, said: “Headingley and Hyde Park have historically suffered from fly tipping, waste in gardens and domestic waste issues and residents of the area have been clear to us that they are fed up with this anti-social behaviour that blights their neighbourhood.

“Thankfully due to the proactive work of environmental enforcement officers and the positive impact of the local Public Space Protection Order, we are seeing positive changes on the streets of Headingley and Hyde Park which are now a lot cleaner and there has also been a reduction in fly tipping.”

Improvement

Since the introduction of the order in 2020, the council said there has been a “significant improvement” in the cleanliness and presentation of the streets included and reduced reports of fly tipped waste and of verminous activity.