Following successful prosecutions in Leeds Magistrate’s Court, several households in the Nowells and Bellbrookes area of Burmantofts have been hit with £7910.40 in fines and costs
The prosecutions are part of Leeds City Council’s latest clampdown on householders blighting their neighbourhoods with litter, fly tipping and nuisance caused by their bins.
This builds on a further ten successful court prosecutions so far in 2023 across the Headingley area, amounting to a further £9,000 of fines and court costs.
Environmental enforcement officers acted against eight households under the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in place across the Burmantofts area, which gives them increased powers to prosecute persistent offenders.
A local PSPO was introduced in February 2022 following concerns raised by the community about the large number of bins being permanently left out by some residents, often overflowing and causing obstructions, attracting vermin and encouraging fly tipping.
The PSPO 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.
The council applies common sense and proportionality in enforcing the PSPO and aims to work with householders to rectify issues prior to enforcement. All household 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.
Since the introduction of the order, 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.
Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for environment and active lifestyles, said:
Burmantofts has historically suffered from fly tipping, waste in gardens and domestic waste issues and residents of the area, as in Headingley, 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 Burmantofts and Headingley which are now a lot cleaner and there has also been a reduction in fly tipping.
