The street’s no place for a sofa
A mountain of rubbish will be dumped outside the Forum this Friday, to illustrate just how much flytipping the council deals with each week. But why do people leave old sofas and mattresses out on the street? If it’s a goodwill gesture, they’re getting it horribly wrong.
City flytipping falls into a grey area. Residents may think they’re helping other people by leaving their unwanted sofa on the street, while in fact what they’re doing is classed as illegal flytipping. It costs Norwich taxpayers around £200,000 to clear up. If caught, flytippers face a fine, or up to 5 years in prison.
The council deals with around 100 cases of flytipping each week. Councillor Julie Brociek-Coulton, (Lab, Sewell) from Norwich City Council, said: “There are plenty of legal alternatives to fly tipping and the overwhelming majority of law abiding residents make use of them. We are determined we will not allow a few people to spoil the city for everyone.”
If you’ve got an old settee, the chances are someone else would love it. But don’t dump it in the street in the hope that they’ll chance upon it. Try websites like Freegle and Freecycle, car boot sales or charity shops. The recycling centre on Swanton Road accepts a wide range of things for recycling and the city council operates a kerbside collection service for bulky items, like fridges or furniture.
One Comment to “The street’s no place for a sofa”
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I walked down The Avenues last week and saw a sofa, sideboard, cupboard and chairs left out in the front garden, totally ruined by the rain and bird droppings. What did the owners think was going to happen to it?