Who is Responsible for the Environment in Cynon Valley?
Posted by Lewis on the 5th May 2008
Thousands of tons of waste enter Cynon Valley each day to be deposited in Bryn Pica, “Amgen Cymru is the key provider of waste management services to the residents and businesses of Rhondda Cynon Taf.” http://www.amgen-cymru.com/
But unfortunately waste from all over South Wales finds its way into Cynon Valley, we are informed that we are short of landfill sites therefore why are Rhondda Cynon Taf allowing waste from all over South Wales to be dumped in the only landfill site within Cynon Valley?
Amgen Cymru say it is the key provider of waste management services to the residents and businesses of Rhondda Cynon Taf what it doesn’t say it also provides a dumping ground for the rest of South Wales.
Is the Environment Agency and Rhondda Cynon Taf allowing another landfill just off Merthyr Road Llwydcoed?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=CF44+0BX&ie=UTF8&ll=5...
The above link shows just what this area looked like before thousands of tons of waste were dumped on the site. I ask the question why do we in Cynon Valley have to put-up with other people’s rubbish being dumped on our doorstep blighting our valley, we were once known as the queen of the valleys but now it would seem landfill sites are popping up without local people being informed of developments why?
Companies except grants for improvements and awards from Green Dragon Environmental, but it is of no use if it is at a environmental cost to the wider population of Cynon Valley.
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Lewis. Whilst I sympathise with your sentiment and in part agree with what you say, it could be worse. Try living next to this (http://www.aberdareonline.org.uk/?q=content/why-should-i-have-put) for a while and whos' rubbish is entering 'our' landfill sites pales into insignificance.
Having traversed the length and breadth of this valley on my mountain bike I have seen so much rubbish dumped along the way that I sometimes feel I'm riding through one huge landfill site.
Areas I used to play in as a kid in Penywaun are now marred by careless dumping of rubbish. Is this an indicator of the total disdain with which people think of their environment? The railway embankment from Aberdare to Abercynon is another indicator of what the people truly consider their environment to be.
I have been to places in Cynon Valley on my mountain bike that I didn't even know existed, and it's brought it home to me how lucky we are to be surrounded by so much natural greenery and beauty. But we are abusing it by destroying it with rubbish and contempt.
It's not only the people themselves who are responsible for this sacrilege but RCT's council as well, whose sole concern with regard to the environment is to appease developers by granting planning permission to destroy our green areas.
To me, that makes our council worse than any fly-tippers. At least the rubbish dumped by the fly-tippers can be cleaned up, but the damage inflicted upon thoughless and self-interested development with the connivance of RCT council can never be remedied.
You have my sympathy, AngelFishSolo, for having to tolerate such a blot on your neighbourhood, but when we have a council that pays mere lip service to environemtal issues it should come as no surprise to you that the perpetrators of such an affront are able to get away with it.
AngelFishSolo
I sympathise with you shouldn’t have to put up with rubbish dumped, it seems to me looking at the photograph it is a fire hazard and whoever owns the flats is in breach of fire regulations as well as health and safety standards.
It is the landlords or owner’s responsibility to keep walkways clears of obstructions, some time ago a number of people in brook Street and Gwawr Street had warning letters from RCT requesting them to remove wheelie bins off the pavement perhaps a letter to RCT will help.
Going back to the original post I have contacted RCT on the 28 March through AberdareOnline about the waste being dumped above Llwydcoed and they say
“Notwithstanding this, the “Google Earth” photograph that you included with your request revealed the attached list of planning applications. It would therefore appear that no specific consent exists for the work that you say is being carried out. It will therefore be necessary to carry out a further site investigation to refine the search area to identify whether this work is authorised and whether enforcement action is necessary.”
Penderyn Whiskey has just opened a new visitors centre but on Sunday travelling along the road from Penderyn to Story Arms each lay-by contained dumped bags of builders rubble corrugated sheets etc, we cant keep blaming the council for the mindless morons who blight the countryside at the end of the day it is us the taxpayer who foots the bill for every cleanup operation cared out by the council.
There were hundreds of people about on Sunday lots on holidays that was evident I feel it’s a disgrace we cannot keep the national park free from fly tipping.
Having just returned from touring the west coast of Scotland and the Peek District everywhere we visited you saw no evidence of rubbish being dumped in lay-bys.
Thank you very much indeed Lewis. I have to say that this time the RCT Homes Housing Officer genuinely seems to be concerned and is taking action. We also had letters regarding fly-tipping and the penalties for doing such. Trouble is the people who fly tip has such disregard for authority that they will see it as a challenge and dump even more. As for the lack of fly-tipping in other places of beauty I feel it says more about the people who live there than it does about the councils. The same is sadly true for our fair county.
Y ddraenen, I am also a mountain / trail biker and the amount of rubbish (of anything from bags to Fridge Freezers) I see dumped is utterly disgusting. After taking a ride along the Cynon Community Trail I have renamed it the Cynon Trash Trail. There are strata of geological proportions made out of trash. Even Hirwaun Industrial Estate is blighted by Grot Spots of huge proportions. God only knows what archaeologists of the future will make of this lol!!!!
Anyway I shall keep you all posted guys. I may even have something good to say about RCT Homes and the local authority :-)
It's true of course, that it's the people themselves who are ultimately responsible for the blight of rubbish in our landscape. Why is it that nobody seems to give a damn around here? As Lewis has pointed out after returning from Scotland and the Peak district of England, you just don't see the level of contempt for the environment as is shown here. I know from my travels in Europe that you don't see it over there either.
There is definitely something about the people of the Valleys in Wales that makes them despise their environment. Is it an education thing, perhaps? Are they really that stupid and uncouth that they think it's fine to wantonly destroy their own environment? I fail to see the logic of this way of thinking.
I know that compared to other parts of Wales and the UK we are classed as a deprived area in terms of employment, health and education, but what favours are we doing ourselves by displaying this total lack of pride in our surroundings? What impression does this create for visitors, who I know have been shocked by the rubbish strewn verges and along the railway?
We don't live in a s***hole compared to other deprived areas, especially inner cities like London itself, so why do we have people in our midst who are hellbent on destroying everything that is good about the area.
We are really fortunate in this respect compared to other areas of the UK. People can wander freely around this valley, unlike many places in southern England especially that are fenced off and barred to ramblers and others. Being able to wander freely does not mean being able to dump your rubbish freely, and with impunity. Though sometimes I do have to wonder about this.
From the top of the Darren in Cwmdare the views across to the Beacons and the valley itself are awesome, but once you descend and come face to face with the rubbish strewn valley itself it's enough to make you cry.
As has been suggested only today there are enough unemployed and young offenders around to work for their payments and to make up for their misdemeanours by being organised into teams to go around and clean up this mess, and to keep it that way. Or as somebody has suggested, that is beneath their dignity!
In light of the current topic I was delighted and saddened by this http://www.aberdareonline.org.uk/?q=content/pant-y-cerdin-clean-crew-220...
Mum’s concerns for road safety
A CONCERNED mother claims she and her family live in the Cynon Valley’s “forgotten village”.
Diane Gordon, 46, of Greenfield Terrace, Cefnpennar, claims the main route through the quiet mountainside village has been neglected by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, making it unsafe for both pedestrians and motorists.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/south-wales-news/cynon-valley/2008/07/...
Bryn Pica has gone way beyond the natural contours of the two mountains either side of it. Dont they have like another 10 year dumping contract on it (Im not sure)???? Bearing in mind this is all piling up on a mountain side it often makes me wonder how stable the thing is, and this impact this must be having on the water course. If you drive up to cwmdare and look directly over (straight on) at it, it certainly doesn't look very stable (esp considering the amount of rain we get in this place). It often makes me wonder if it could be another Aberfan type disaster in the making, especially when hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish are yet to be tipped there.
In relation to fly tipping (I certainly do not agree with it)- but I can't believe you have to pay to dump rubbish there, which can only serve to exacerbate people dumping rubbish everywhere. This is done to encourage recycling, but seems very counter productive as if it were free Im sure more people would dump it there. Surely we do already pay to dump our rubbish (is it not called council tax!!!). Maybe a shift of incentive to something like free dumping but you get paid a small incentive to recycle (I believe this is the system in a lot of european countries), or maybe a small percentage council tax break would be a better idea?????