Anger as fly-tippers strike in one of Coventry's poorest areas

Black bags and brown units dumped at Caradoc Close in the Manor Farm estate, Coventry. Pictured 29/8/24.
-Credit: (Image: Ian Rogers)


Fly-tippers have struck in one of Coventry's poorest areas. The waste was dumped on three roads and the main green of the Manor Farm estate in Henley Green.

Sofas, mattresses, a door and a pile of burned rubbish were some of the items left at the housing complex. City resident Ian Rogers spotted the rubbish on 29 August.

The Coventry Citizens Party founder highlighted the area's deprivation and claimed city authorities do not "seem to care" about it. Coventry council and Citizen said they are trying to tackle fly-tipping and would investigate the latest incident.

READ MORE:

YouTuber names five 'worst places' for Coventry flytipping as city branded 'crazy'

Brazen fly-tippers in Coventry caught on camera as council asks for help

Mr Rogers said: "Unfortunately, this is one of the poorest areas in the whole of England but neither the council nor Citizen Housing seem to care about the state of it." He claimed the council is still moving homeless families to a "run-down tower block" at the estate.

"The local college has closed and the local shopping centre has been left to rot for decades," he added. Mr Rogers pointed out that the wider area was included in a film by vlogger UK Explored on the city's five "worst" places to live, posted in May.

READ MORE: Fly-tipping around the Manor Farm estate in Coventry

He said: "It's no wonder Henley Green was featured in a YouTube video about the worst areas to live in Coventry which has now been viewed around 80,000 times." The film featured clips of the Manor Farm estate including areas where rubbish was spotted.

In a post from June on the Coventry Citizens Party website, Mr Rogers said he had taken "hundreds" of photos of fly-tipping in the area as well as Foleshill and Hillfields over the past four years.

He revealed that he grew up in a house "directly opposite" the Henley Green tower block, adding: "There used to be shops and a pub around the block which were knocked down when I was a kid. However, nothing has been done to improve the site since."

Five years ago, Henley Green was ranked as the most deprived area in Coventry and the 94th poorest place in England. As of 2021, most households on the Manor Farm estate are classified as being deprived in at least one way - such as education, employment, health or housing.

Citizen and council response

The LDRS asked the council and Citizen for comment. Responding on Thursday, 5 September, Head of estates and services at Citizen, Elly Dix, said: "We received three reports of fly tipping across the Manor Farm estate on 29 August which included items such as a sofa, cardboard and a bin.

"These items were all removed within 24 hours of them being reported to us – ahead of our five working day target. We have also sent our teams around the estate today [5 September] to check if there is any further fly tipping and any items found will be removed within 24 hours.

A mattress and door left at the back of Caradoc Hall on the Manor Farm estate in Coventry, pictured on 29/8/24.
A mattress and door left at the back of Caradoc Hall on the Manor Farm estate in Coventry, pictured on 29/8/24. -Credit:Ian Rogers

"A couple of months ago we held an event on the Manor Farm estate in partnership with Coventry City Council and the police where we collected fly tipping and encouraged our customers to give us their bulk waste which we removed without charge. Our housing officers and estates team also regularly check for fly tipping, but we need our customers to report it too, along with accurate location information. They can do this by calling our Customer Experience Centre on 0300 790 6555.

"We are committed to working with our partners and continue to strive to reduce instances of fly tipping by identifying the perpetrators and taking appropriate enforcement action. We also have an advice team which is available to help on a range of matters from finances to energy usage and access to employment and training. Our customers can contact the team by calling 0300 790 6530."

Responding yesterday, 9 September, a council spokesperson said: "As a Council, we are proud of all parts of our city and we work very hard to keep it clean. However, as you can see with incidents like this, there are a small number of people who spoil it for everyone.

"None of these incidents were reported to us. Now they have been, we’ll be investigating, cleaning and working with Citizen to tackle the ones on their land.

"We would strongly encourage anyone who sees fly tipping to report it online at www.coventry.gov.uk/flytipping."

Get daily headlines and breaking news emailed to you - it’s FREE