Messing in Croydon

On 1st August, a steaming hot day during the heatwave, I received a knock on the front door. It was my neighbour.

"You're in the Green Party aren't you?"

After confirming my political colour of choice, she continued, "There's people dumping rubbish in the park."

I quickly didn't change into my Green Knight outfit and investigated.

I took a photo of the offending items in the park. I had a view to use the My Croydon smartphone App to report it.

I then walked up to a house which was seemingly emptying the contents of a garden into the park. The group of people before me consisted of:

Three men who were doing all the labouring.
At least two children between 8-10 years old.
A mother with a baby.

The three men looked like they were suffering from the hot conditions. They were using a hacksaw to cut branches into carryable pieces.

I explained to the group that they could contact the council to take this stuff. The main labourer asserted that the council had advised them to leave the vegetation and additional rubbish in the park, just by the entrance. I responded politely by questioning whether the council would do such a thing. I then offered to contact the council to collect it from outside the house and proceeded to look for the phone number on my smartphone. The main labourer responded by stating that I had made the children feel uncomfortable. A few poor excuses were being offered in my direction, and then one of the children started saying, "If I don't like someone I am going to say Boo!" She then repeatedly said Boo! The main labourer asked on more than one occasion if I was the owner of the park. Soon after the poor excuses turned into unpleasantries being fired in my direction.

Then in flash the mood completely turned when the main labourer threatened to cut me with his hacksaw if I didn't go away. Number 2 labourer chimed in with a volley of expletives. Number 3 labourer decided to play peacemaker and told me to walk away. Stunned by the mood change and unsure how to react, I pointed out that we all owned the park. 

Next, the main labourer rushed over to me with hacksaw in hand, which he was occasionally using even during our exchange, and grabbed my arm tightly and demanded to know where I lived.

"Show me which house is yours?" He prompted his question by waving the hacksaw in full view of my eyeballs.

His calculations proved correct because I was not in the mood to share my address with him, retreating was clearly now the sensible course of action. My heart was racing I was really unsure how this powderkeg of a man was going to turn next. His eyes were full of anger. 

He let go of my arm at which point number 3 labourer pulled me away. Before I turned around to walk home I shouted out, "You make me want to move away from this area." Main labourer responded in his broken accent in an unexpected way, "You should move to heaven" and pointed and looked up at the sky knowing my eyes were only fixed on him as he returned to using the hacksaw for its actual purpose.

Number 2 labourer then said in reference to me, "He's not even white."

When I arrived home, I was shaking, partly with anger and partly with fear. I felt that if the main labourer would behave in such an agressive manner then he must perceive to have very little at stake in society. 

I definitely was not going to call the police. Instead I decided to call Croydon North MP, Steve Reed's constituency office. I explained to Louise his assistant what had just happened. She sounded shocked and genuinely sympathetic. I asked her what I should do next. She understood that I didn't want to call the police. She then suggested I speak to Cllr Stuart Collins, Mr Clean Green cabinet member - the champion of the new council slogan against flytippers, 'Don't Mess With Croydon'. She said she was going to send him an email immediately. I had his number so I called him after putting the phone down. I got through to his voicemail. He called back straight away. Cllr Collins said that he wanted to call one of his enforcement officers. I emphatically replied, no. I did not want to risk continued intimidation.

The conversation concluded with the only thing left possible which was to get the offending vegetation and ancillaries to be collected on the morning of the next working day. Cllr Collins said he would see to it.

Yesterday (17th August). I took a photo of the flytipped vegetation. Some people who are not 'taking pride' are now dumping stuff on to it because it now looks like dumping point. 

Evidently, it is possible to mess with Croydon if you think you don't have anything to be proud about. 

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Tags croydon, greenparty

FLYTIP plan press release

03.03.10

Press Release – immediate.

Photo opp.

CROYDON GREEN PARTY PLEDGE TO ERADICATE FLY-TIPPING.

The Green Party in Croydon have come up with a six point plan, known as the ‘FLYTIP plan’ (see attached image), that they believe will eradicate fly tipped rubbish.

Croydon Green Party spokesperson, Shasha Khan, said,

“Nearly everyone knows that the Green Party wants to reduce pollution. We are principled on this issue. One automatically thinks of air pollution when addressing pollution. However, pollution comes in various forms. Fly tipped rubbish on our streets is pollution. The levels of fly tipped rubbish in some wards, particularly north of the borough, have reached intolerable levels. Croydon Council needs to take urgent steps to eradicate the blight of fly-tipping in our borough which affects our quality of life.

“A lot of the stuff that we see dumped on our streets is potentially reusable. Therefore where it is practical to do so, furniture fairs should be held annually in which residents leave their old furniture outside their house for anyone to take, and the council takes away anything left.

“But more immediately, the council can follow our six point fly-tip plan to eradicate flytipping. If Greens controlled the council we would implement this immediately.”

1/ Freephone fly-tipping hotline. Fly-tipping to be cleared within 24 hours by the Council with one call to a freephone hotline.

2/ Longer opening hours for council dumps to suit needs of residents and businesses.

3/ Yearly collection of up to 7 items of bulky waste – such as furniture, mattresses or fence panels – to be collected free (currently £10)

4/ Tackle fly-tipping through proper co-ordination of council and local police e.g. patrols, cameras, collecting information from local residents.

5/ Information notices to be displayed at fly-tipping hot spots stating the penalties for fly-tipping and how to dispose of rubbish. Households to be leafleted on how to dispose of household waste annually, with information in translation where necessary.

6/ Punishment of offenders by community service such as litter picking in Croydon parks and large fines if this is not completed and for repeated offences.

Shasha Khan continued, “We would also like to see the government apply pressure on large superstores that sell televisions, furniture and other household appliances to receive items that are no longer required. For example if you are buying a television, the retailer should be obliged to collect or receive your old one free of charge.”

Ends

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Tags croydon, greenparty