Local litter campaign lays blame for litter at students’ door

Jesmond has been blighted by recent reports of fly-tipping occurring in Jesmond Dene – part of a wider problem with litter in the Jesmond area.

A dog walker tweeted that a bath tub and an electric radiator had been dumped in the river earlier this month.

Organisers of local litter pick campaign Keep Jesmond Clean say that “there is not one litter problem in Jesmond, but many”.

Keep Jesmond Clean suggested that the concerned Twitter user reported this incident to the council via Envirocall. This service allows residents and concerned members of the public to request removal of rubbish.

The volunteer service claimed that despite having no hard evidence, they believe that a large proportion of Jesmond’s rubbish problem is due to “student tenants and landlords dumping in back lanes at the end of the academic year”.

The spokesperson went on to say that they are working with Newcastle University to develop the ‘Leave Newcastle Happy’ initiative to reduce back lane fly-tipping by students. 

Keep Jesmond Clean believe that aside from fly-tipping, there is an underlying problem in Jesmond with everyday rubbish. The spokesperson claimed to get a number of calls reporting rubbish, which the campaign group then refers to the council. 

Despite this, Newcastle City Council’s Public Safety and Regulation team say they have received precious few complaints from residents.

A council spokesperson from Newcastle City Council team revealed that since May 2016 there have only been two incidents recorded as fly-tipping in Jesmond – recorded earlier this month.

The record of the incident reads: “11/03/19 a white bath tub and electric radiator have appeared under the bridge by the waterfall in Jesmond Dene”.

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