Lib Dem councillor Bob Hare has expressed anger that Haringey Council is doing little to curb fly-tipping in one of Haringey’s beauty spots after consultation with Friends of Queens Wood, other Lib Dem councillors and Lynne Featherstone MP revealed that many reports of fly-tipping in Queens Wood, N6 have gone unanswered.

The news comes just over a week after Cllr Hare wrote to the Council expressing his concern that two lorry loads of rubbish had been left unremoved in Queens Wood. He was away for a week, but spotted and reported the dumping immediately on his return. He was horrified to find to learn from local residents that been trying to get the dumped rubbish removed since the 27th August.

More seriously, a resident had actually spotted the tipper lorry dumping the waste, and had immediately phoned Haringey Council with a description of the lorry and its registration number. Nothing was done, and little or no response was received by her, or by numerous other residents who also called.

In fact, when Cllr Hare began investigating the case, the Council told him that the first report was just after midday on 7th of September. The result of this misinformation was that when Cllr Hare called for a scan of the video recording from the CCTV, it was for completely the wrong period.

He is now asking for a scan of the recording for the exact time of the dumping although residents believe the camera in Queens Wood is a dummy, and that there will not be a recording. Cllr Hare is still awaiting answers on this point.

Cllr Hare, who is the Lib Dem Environment Spokesperson, had already been contacted by another resident who had witnessed an earlier fly-tipping incident. Again they had recorded details and immediately contacted the Council and once again, Haringey Council did not respond to this resident’s repeated attempts to get action.

This week, yet more cases of unaddressed fly-tipping in Queens Wood have been brought to Cllr Hare’s attention. The catalogue of Council failures in this area include two burnt out motorbikes that were still in the woods last week, six weeks after they were first reported.

Cllr Hare (Highgate) comments:

“It is rare to obtain details of the perpetrators. Other authorities would treat these like gold. On two separate occasions this year, residents have witnessed fly-tipping in progress and given detailed reports to Haringey Council, yet they have failed to follow them up.

“These total failures to respond to residents even when they have given fully detailed reports, much less to follow up and prosecute offenders, means that fly-tippers are treating Queens Wood and Haringey as an open house for their activities. The Council and its waste contractor Accord must take urgent action to show that Haringey borough is not a soft touch for fly-tippers.”