Tonne of illegal waste removed from West Park, Kirkby in Ashfield

An unauthorised encampment has been successfully removed from West Park in Kirkby in Ashfield after reports that the site had been illegally accessed.

The incident was swiftly responded to by Ashfield District Council’s Community Protection Team following reports from local residents who could no longer use the park and reported that they felt unsafe.

Ashfield District Council followed the legal process and issues a Notice to Leave from day one, which came into effect on 23 May. During this time the area saw a significant rise in anti- social behaviour, with residents and business seeing a spike to incidents which caused some to close early to avoid any incidents.

The Council takes a Zero tolerance approach to the flagrant disregard for Ashfield’s green spaces. The Environment’s team moved quickly after the successful removal of the encampment to fully clean the area and removed over a tonne of waste from the site. New locks have been installed and residents are reminded to report unlawful activity using the 101 service or alternatively by contacting the Councils’ Community Protection team using the online portal, Ashfield 24-7.

Leader of the Council, Jason Zadrozny understood residents’ concerns and said:

“Thanks to swift work from the Police and Ashfield’s Community Protection Team we have successfully moved the group on and residents can now use the park safely again. We will not tolerate this behaviour on our District and will take the same approach in future incidents”

“I would like to thank our Environment Team who went above and beyond, removing over a tonne of waste from the site whilst still maintaining the Council’s Day to day services”