East Leeds Orbital Route: Fly-tipping turns scenic Whinmoor cycle path into a ‘dump’ as council cracks down

James Connolly
By James Connolly
Published 7th Aug 2023, 11:45 BST
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Fly-tipping along an east Leeds cycle route turned a scenic country park into “a dump”, with gas cannisters, a trailer tent and piles of bricks among the discarded waste.

The detritus that was littered across a stretch of the East Leeds Orbital Route came as a shock to one Whinmoor family who had joined the trail for a leisurely bike ride last week.

Leeds City Council has since said that workers are in the process of clearing it up, but 69-year-old Roger Booth, a frequent visitor to the cycle route, argued that there needs to be a solution to the worsening problem once and for all.

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He said: “This is meant to be a country park. It’s frustrating and annoying that a nice communal amenity has been turned into a dump. I don’t think it’s being managed properly.”

Fly-tipping along the East Leeds Orbital Route turned the area off Skeltons Lane into “a dump” according to visitors, with gas cannisters, a trailer tent and piles of bricks among the discarded waste.Fly-tipping along the East Leeds Orbital Route turned the area off Skeltons Lane into “a dump” according to visitors, with gas cannisters, a trailer tent and piles of bricks among the discarded waste.
Fly-tipping along the East Leeds Orbital Route turned the area off Skeltons Lane into “a dump” according to visitors, with gas cannisters, a trailer tent and piles of bricks among the discarded waste.

Roger, who lives in Whinmoor, was on a bike ride with his wife and granddaughter when he spotted the detritus off Skeltons Lane.

He took photos of boxes filled with household waste, discarded gas canisters, a castoff trailer tent, as well as piles of bricks and garden waste left beneath an underpass, which he later sent to the council. Roger also noticed that the access gates on Thorner Lane were hanging from their hinges.

He said: “This issue has been going on for a long time. It’s costing tax payers a huge amount of money each year. The photos don’t even do it justice.”

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Last year, Leeds City Council set up its ‘serious environmental crime team’ to tackle fly-tipping. The authority announced last week that the team had seized another vehicle as part of its crackdown, bringing the total number of seized vehicles in the last year to 11. Of those, eight have now been or are due to be crushed.

The access gates on Thorner Lane were hanging from their hinges after fly tipping was spotted along the East Leeds Orbital Route.The access gates on Thorner Lane were hanging from their hinges after fly tipping was spotted along the East Leeds Orbital Route.
The access gates on Thorner Lane were hanging from their hinges after fly tipping was spotted along the East Leeds Orbital Route.

In response to the incident off Skeltons Lane, a spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We are aware of the fly tip at this site and are in the process of clearing it up. Fly-tipping is a crime which has a significant impact on our communities, and we do not tolerate it.”