Opinion

Fly-tipping in Lewisham is getting worse - will the 'Cleaner Streets' programme work?

Defra figures show Lewisham is the 3rd worst performing local authority in England, and fly tipping incidents are increasing. The council is trying once again to turn the tide.

Fly tipping in Lewisham. Image: Mark Morris

Lewisham has a very serious problem with fly-tipping.

The most recent fly-tipping statistics for all councils published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) show that Lewisham had the third highest rate of incidents of fly-tipping incidents of any council in England.

Defra statistics show that in 2024/25 Croydon was the worst hit area in the entire country with 53,268 incidents. Camden saw 36,216 cases and Lewisham 33,471.

Of course, the populations of London boroughs do vary, so the fairest way to make comparisons is to look at incidents per 1,000 people. Sadly, this measure merely reinforces how serious the problem of fly-tipping is, in Lewisham.

Of the worst three performing boroughs in 2024/25, Camden performs worst of all with 167 incidents, Croydon has 130 incidents while Lewisham had 111 incidents of fly-tipping per 1000 people.

But Lewisham's neighbouring boroughs have much lower rates with Southwark at 59 incidents, Greenwich at 56 and Bromley lowest with 21 incidents per 1000 people.

The total headline figure for Lewisham shows a wide range of items being dumped in our parks, pavements, streets and alleyways including white goods, vehicle parts and even asbestos.

Fly-tipping in Lewisham has continued to grow in the last year. The council confirmed that in the last 12 months (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026) the number of fly-tipping incidents increased to over 43,000 reported incidents.

In just one year there was a growth in fly-tipping of more than 25%.

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New council proposals

It is against this background of elevated levels of fly-tipping that the council has started to adopt new measures.

In April 2025, Lewisham followed a number of other London councils in increasing the maximum fixed penalty notice for fly-tipping to £1,000.

Then in October 2025, the council approved a reduction in the charges for collecting bulky waste, from a flat rate of £42 for up to four items to just £5 per item including mattresses (reduced from £14), and £25 per fridge/freezer (reduced from £60.

The changes have led to a 91% increase in bookings, with the increase being so steep that delays to bookings are now arising.

Now the new Green administration have come forward with further proposals, set out in what is being called the Cleaner Streets Programme, backed by additional, one-off spending (from reserves) of up to £1m over the next two years.

This spend is additional to the already budgeted activity for fly tipping clearance and enforcement, and shows just how entrenched the problem is.

At the heart of the new proposals is a focus on high-harm fly-tipping hotspots, with an approach combining prevention, enforcement and environmental design.

Lewisham Council believe that fly-tipping is driven by a complex range of factors, including unclear responsibilities, poorly designed spaces and barriers to legal waste disposal.

There is also recognition that tougher action is needed on enforcement, with plans to better use CCTV by upgrading systems to include Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) software, as well as purchasing additional cameras.

There are plans to learn from other councils who use footage to identify offenders via social media and other means.

In addition to maintaining the current level of collection charges, the council is planning to launch a comprehensive communications and engagement programme over the next six months, to ensure that all resident and local businesses know how to correctly dispose of their refuse.

During this period new collection crews will also be introduced. The measures will be accompanied by the testing of “time-banding” for waste disposal in pilot areas, which may limit the days of the week and times during which waste can be put out.

The council aims to put prevention at the heart of the programme, with promises of clear, accessible communications about legal waste disposal, backed up by targeted communications and engagement activities in hotspot areas.

There will even be outreach efforts including door-knocking and local events to help build understanding and seek to shift behaviour.

No update on Landmann Way, no sign of community skips

However, despite the emphasis on encouraging people to correctly dispose of their refuse there is still no news about the extending the opening hours of Lewisham council’s refuse and reuse centre at Landmann Way.

For many years the council’s sole refuse and reuse centre has had very limited opening hours at weekends, with cars not able to enter after 11.30 am on a Saturday.

Last October, to accompany the reduction in charges for bulky items, the council proposed opening Landmann Way from Wednesdays to Sundays, 8am to 3.30pm.

The aim was to provide residents with more convenient access to the site, especially over the weekend. These changes have still not been implemented.

A council spokesperson said: “The Council has been exploring proposals to revise the operating hours at the Landmann Way Reuse and Recycling Centre, including extended opening hours on Saturdays.

"The proposal remains under consideration as part of our wider review of waste services and how we best meet resident needs.”

Another item that appears to be missing from the council’s proposals so far is the specific adoption of the Green manifesto pledge to introduce community skips, a policy already adopted by some other councils such as Brent and Richmond.

Will the Cleaner Streets Programme work?

Following the adoption of the proposals, there was some immediate scrutiny by Labour and Green councillors on the Sustainable Development Committee.

It was repeatedly promised that the proposals will be carefully monitored. Responding to questions from councillors, Corin Ashwell, the Green Cabinet Member for Environment, Nature, Transport and Climate Action stated a "test and learn approach" will be adopted and promised that the whole approach would "based on outcomes for people, not just dogmatic ideas about how things will be done."

Clearly the pressure is now on for Lewisham Council to move out of the relegation zone of being the third worst council in England for fly-tipping. Time will tell.