Horror over 9 fly tipping dumps within just a few hundred metres on Sheffield estate

Green Party councillor Paul Turpin, representative for Gleadless Valley ward and spokesperson for the economic development and skills committee, spotted dumped mattresses, carpets and other junk while leafleting in the area on Sunday.

He said loads of work was done on the Lumb – a notorious fly tipping hotspot in the valley – in recent years and litter pickers regularly cleared up but other areas were now seeing an increase.

“Sheffield needs an improved waste service,” he added. “When it’s too difficult or too expensive for people to get rid of their rubbish in the right way, the service isn’t working.

“We have done a lot of work on clearing and preventing fly tipping in Gleadless but there’s still a lot to do.

“We will keep reporting it when we see it and we appreciate members of the public giving us information.”

He said community skips would be provided over the next few weeks in the Spring Close area and behind John O’Gaunt shops.

Ongoing fight to clear up fly tipping in Gleadless Valley

Coun Turpin has been fighting increasing fly tipping in his ward since at least 2021 when he shared shocking images of waste thrown across green spaces and described it as the ‘dumping ground of south Sheffield’.

He said it was one of the greenest parts of the city but increased fly tipping had turned it into a tip.

Two years later, he is still fighting for long-term solutions.

Council cameras catch fly tippers

Last year, the council said it had installed new CCTV cameras to catch fly tipping.

Between May 2021 and March 2022, seven new mobile cameras were used across 21 known hotspots including Burngreave, Wincobank, Attercliffe, Nether Edge, Walkley, Darnall, Woodhouse and Manor.

These detected more than 200 waste related incidents resulting in more than 80 fixed penalty notices and a number of court cases in that time, the council said, and it is hoping to catch more.

Fly tipping is illegal and anyone caught can be fined up to £50,000 and face 12 months in prison.

Fly tipping can be reported on the council’s website here.