Formal Notice for Neighbours' Waste

phona

Hi all,

I'll start with some background.
I currently live in a rented flat with a communal stair and "garden" where the bins are stored. Recently there has been a lot of rubbish on the ground outside, and it has been blowing into the close. There are 8 flats in the building; I rent mine from an agency. I will be moving out at the end of my lease in July 2013 (moving to another city).

Today I got a letter from the local council:

THIS IS A FORMAL NOTICE ... pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ... requiring you as the occupier(s) of premises in the Council's area to place any househole waste for collection ... in accordance with the conditions specified in the Schedule

The Schedule itself states the obvious: that household waste should be stored in the bins and presented for collection.
The letter specifies that failure to comply carries a fine of up to £1000 on summary conviction.

The letter also states I have the right to appeal to the Sheriff court within 21 days.

Am I being held responsible for someone else's casual dumping of rubbish? Surely the Council should take steps to find out whose rubbish it is. If I take no action and assume the guilty party will clean up after themselves, what happens if they do not? Can I be fined for this? If the fine is applied after I move out will it still be my responsibility? Should I look into an appeal against the notice, or contact the Council or my letting agent?

This is in Scotland if it matters.
Any answers or ideas are much appreciated.

tim123456789

I think that you need to tell them that this isn't your responsibility.

If you don't, you might get fined. But most councils are fair about this issue if the rubbish really isn't yours

m0bov

I bet everyone in the block got the same letter. I would'nt worry about it, they need evideance i.e. video, photo or addresses on the waste.

moneyistooshorttomention

Re above post - I was thinking at outset that perhaps you could have a rummage through said rubbish and find some sort of proof of whose rubbish it is (eg there might very well be an envelope in there with their address on).

Wouldn't fancy the thought myself - but if "needs must" I'd put on my rubber gloves and psych myself up into it...

phona

Thanks for all your replies.

I went out and had a quick look at the heap. It stems from flat A's overflowing bin and there's some Virgin Media junk mail addressed to flat A lying on the ground. Also (strangely) there's a national insurance numbercard so that might be helpful evidence!
I'll write an email to the council this afternoon. One would think they might go out and look at an envelope rather than sending threatening letters to everyone!

Davesnave

phona wrote: »

One would think they might go out and look at an envelope rather than sending threatening letters to everyone!

How do you know they haven't?

When I dealt with a similar sort of issue in January, my council's 'rubbish man' visited, collected evidence and then sent a similar letter to everyone, including me. He wasn't for prosecuting on a first time basis.

He then returned after a suitable time to see if all was well. It was, but unfortunately someone who didn't like receiving the letter gave him grief and a problem we shouldn't have had erupted. It was eventually sorted out with reference to the neighbour's title plan, which with neighbours like them, is the sort of thing I just happen to have! :rotfl:

grifferz

phona wrote: »

Am I being held responsible for someone else's casual dumping of rubbish?

No, they simply do not know who is responsible and it's more cost-effective as a first step to send a notice to everyone than to take any steps towards discovering who exactly is responsible. I do not disagree with this approach. Most of the time the problem will get sorted out at this point.

We have had exactly the same where we rent, for two different issues: dumping of rubbish (well, not putting it out for collection at the right time or in the right way), and massively overgrown hedges blocking the footpath.

In both cases the council didn't know who was responsible, even though we did know. So we all got a notice to fix it.

The sad thing is that if everyone ignores the notice there probably wont be any action taken for a long time anyway, so you have little fear of being punished for someone else's dumping.

phona

Just a quick update...

I emailed the contact at the council saying I comply with correct procedure and pointing out the evidence of who is responsible.
The reply states that because it is a communal area the notice had to be served on all flats and that we should hope the resident responsible presents it for collection on Tuesday.

I understand their position by sending it to everyone, but it does seem to me like they're hoping an innocent party will clear it up out of fear of the fine.

Anyway, I think it was worthwhile pointing out that it's not mine rather than ignoring the notice entirely but I won't be losing any sleep over it. The cogs in local government tend to move slowly so I'll probably be long gone before anything becomes of this!

Thanks to everyone for your input.