How Middlesbrough Council Can Embrace Innovation for the Better

Fly-tipping has been a consistent and significant issue in Middlesbrough, particularly TS1, for the nearly three years I've lived here. The reality residents currently face is stark, unpleasant, and often dangerous. Here's what I've seen so far:

❌ Large fridges filled with mouldy food fly-tipped
❌ Complete sofa sets fly-tipped
❌ Broken televisions fly-tipped
❌ Someone casually smoking crack cocaine opposite our house
❌ Seagulls eating rats opposite our house
❌ Dead rats and mice scattered through the alleyways
❌ Mattresses dumped randomly throughout the neighbourhood
❌ Entire households of rubbish left behind by people moving out

Current Situation: The Costs of Inaction

The council periodically sends street sweepers, but within days, the alleyways return to their previous state. In just the past month, I've reported over 35 incidents—more than one per day (not including alleyway mess). This reactive cycle clearly isn't working:

Current Approach	Issues with This Approach
Regular street cleaning crews	Expensive, short-term, fails to prevent repeat offences
Ignoring minor incidents	Encourages offenders, increases long-term clean-up costs
Lack of resident incentives	Missed opportunity to engage community effectively

Missed Opportunities

I've witnessed even council employees assisting local businesses in fly-tipping, highlighting serious accountability issues. They helped open the alleyway gates, the van parked up, and filled our community bins with commercial rubbish. In another striking incident, while showing council members the commercial rubbish dumped, someone attempted to dump a mattress right in front of us. The council staff merely warned her rather than issuing an immediate fine. Predictably, that mattress ended up elsewhere.

A Path to Change: Innovation Through Incentives

About a year ago, I proposed an incentive-based reporting system inspired by New York’s successful anti-idling programme. Residents who report incidents leading to successful fines receive a portion of the fine. Despite offering clear evidence of effectiveness elsewhere, Middlesbrough Council dismissed the idea without genuine consideration and refused to trial it.

Yet, imagine what our community could look like if the council embraced such innovation:

Innovative Alternative	Potential Benefits
Incentivised resident reporting scheme	Long-term effectiveness, reduced clean up costs
Immediate fines for observed fly-tipping	Deterrence, clearer standards for community
Financial reward for valid reports	Increased resident engagement and cleaner neighbourhoods

Moving Forward: A Call to Action

Fly-tipping doesn't just harm the environment—it strains community relationships, escalating tensions and even creating dangerous situations, as I've personally witnessed. Middlesbrough Council has a real opportunity to demonstrate leadership and proactively address this issue through innovation and collaboration with residents.

It’s time Middlesbrough Council reconsidered its stance and embraced innovative, community-focused approaches. Our town deserves leadership willing to trial new solutions and actively partner with the community. This isn't just about cleaner alleyways; it's about creating a safer, healthier, and more engaged Middlesbrough for everyone.