One of the reasons many choose to live in this part of East Sussex is the beautiful countryside which surrounds us: many acres of woodland, with bluebells, primroses and swathes of wild garlic, and home to all sorts of living creatures; acres of lush green pasture which feed the livestock; rolling hills with amazing sunrises and sunsets; and the coast with its exceptional beaches.
What I cannot get my head around is why some people just don’t appreciate all these wonderful assets we have at our fingertips - the winding country lanes, footpaths, bridal ways and so many beautiful views. One very popular lane in rural Peasmarsh, which runs between the villages of Beckley and Peasmarsh, has recently attracted interest for a more sinister reason: fly-tipping.
Two weeks ago I witnessed a fly-tipper unloading black bags of household waste, not from a rusty old transit van but from the boot of his very shiny car and the perpetrator was very smartly dressed. As I was already late for work time was very limited but time enough to get a photo and send it to Rother District Council who jumped straight onto it and the rubbish was cleared within days.
Two days ago in a different section of the same lane, I saw what you now see in these photographs. Not a few bags thrown onto the verge but in the middle of the road were no less than 5 mattresses, one fold away bed and a couple of bedside cabinets, nearly enough to furnish a studio flat!
Not only were the items illegally dumped but the dumpee had given no thought to the potential danger they caused to motorists and to animals, who often roam along this lane.
You have to ask yourself, if they had the means to bring these large items to the woods they must have had the means to take them that little bit further and drop them at the tip. Why risk getting caught fly-tipping when there is an alternative? Fly-tippers like this have no scruples or ethics but why should they expect someone else to clear up after them?
You could argue that if the cost of collecting large unwanted items was more attractive, fly- tipping might not be such a problem. Or perhaps does the owner of the items think they have been disposed of responsibly having called in a firm 'specialising' in rubbish clearance?
Who knows, but all I do know is that before you could blink, Rother District Council had sent out a team to collect all the mattresses and rubbish so well done Rother District Council for acting so quickly. It proves the system works but it's just a shame we need a system at all.
In the meantime life has returned to normal ... until the next fly-tipper arrives.
