Fly-tipping: Doncaster's 'unsung heroes' need support from residents and council, says Reform UK councillor

Councillor Russ Linley has called for residents to be “mindful of the huge effort all council teams put into keeping the streets clean and safe, and in a state of good repair”.

In an open letter recounting his experience, Cllr Linley wrote: “These StreetScene crews are the unsung heroes who tirelessly pick up the monumental piles of rubbish of all types: clothing, kitchen utensils, kitchen waste, magazines, TVs, kettles, sofas, mattresses… the list is endless, and sometimes horrendous.

“These crews have my utmost respect and gratitude, and what I was expecting as I started my day was a ride around, watching, learning and noting down. In fact, it was straight into it, picking up, loading, shifting and doing what was necessary.”

However, Cllr Linley said it was only a short time before he encountered “my first box of human waste”.

The Hexthorpe and Balby North councillor said council systems make the jobs of StreetScene staff harder – and ultimately cost the council, and taxpayer, more money.

When the truckloads of fly-tipping and rubbish are delivered by StreetScene to the waste recycling centre, they pass over a weighbridge, which calculates the charge to be issued to the council for it to be recycled.

Depending on the type of waste in the load, the charge can vary. However, due to the loads coming in from StreetScene crews being mixed waste, they receive the highest tariff.

Cllr Linley continued: “Seems easy then, separate the rubbish before drop off. The problem now is that the crews are subject to the same fly tipping rules and regulations that all of us face.”

He claimed that crews were unable to leave items behind in order to not have a “mixed” load, nor unload something already in the truck to make way for another item.

“To me, this is the same as a speeding fine issued to a police officer for pursuing a getaway car, or penalising the fire service for blocking a road whilst on a call,” he wrote.

He said it means StreetScene staff need help from the community.

“These lads are absolute grafters,” Linley said, “They deal with things most people wouldn’t go near. They deserve respect — and support.”

He added: “I have tremendous respect for the work these teams do, but we all need to play a part.

“Please help us to help you, tenants, landlords, businesses alike. The more we can help ourselves, the more we can work together, the more we can get done.”

It comes after a Reform UK amendment to Mayor Ros Jones’ budget was passed last week.

The amendment, proposed by group leader Cllr Craig Ward, more than halved the council tax increase proposed by the Mayor – meaning residents will now face a two per cent hike from April 2026, rather than the maximum 4.99 per cent.

“We’ve cut the tax rise. Now let’s cut waste in the system too,” Cllr Linley said, “Back our StreetScene heroes and back common sense.”

During the full council meeting on February 26, 2026, Cllr Glyn Jones, deputy mayor and cabinet member for environment, housing and safer communities, said providing waste and recycling services is expected to cost the council £35million in 2025/26.

“That covers our bin collections, depots, Household Waste and Recycling Centres, reprocessing and disposal costs of waste which includes hazardous wastes and fly tipping. Over a third of that or £12m is attributed to disposal and reprocessing of waste,” he told the council chamber.

Cllr Jones pointed to Safer Recycling legislation, introduced in 2023 by the Conservatives, which is being rolled out for households in 2026/27.

He said the legislation was “brought in to help make recycling simpler and more uniform across the country in relation to what can and cannot be recycled”.

“We’ve heard a lot about cutting waste, but just to highlight that something all residents across Doncaster can do to reduce costs to the taxpayer is to recycle more and reduce the amount of residual waste that goes in the black bin,” Cllr Jones concluded.