The Council receives many complaints concerning accumulations of waste in the yards of unoccupied and occupied properties. These are also known as Dirty Back Yards which is a term used by Local Authorities, to describe a build-up of rubbish within the boundary of a residential property, for example, the back yard.
It is the occupier’s (or the owner’s if the property is empty) responsibility to ensure that the outside space of the property is free from waste, dog foul etc., regardless of who may have of deposited the waste.
The procedure
On receipt of a complaint, one of our Officers will go to the property to assess the situation. We will then write to the owner/occupier of the property requesting the waste is cleared within 7 days. In some circumstances, we may feel it is appropriate to serve a legal notice in the first instance.
After 7 days, the Officer will return to check whether the yard has been cleared. If it has not, a legal notice is served on the owner/occupier requiring the waste to be removed within 7 days.
After the notice has expired, if the situation has not been resolved we will then arrange for the waste to be removed in default and begin formal court proceedings.
Please note: The process can be time consuming as we must allow time for the occupier/owner to remove the waste themselves.
If the waste is on public land (e.g., a back street) please report a fly-tip: