High Peak village heartbroken after mountain of waste dumped at bowling club

Members of a High Peak bowling club have been left heartbroken after fly-tippers dumped a mountain of waste on the property – but there is some hope that the perpetrators will be caught.
By Ed Dingwall
Published 21st Jan 2022, 08:55 BST
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The heap of rubbish was discovered in the car park of Peak Dale Bowling Club at around 8.30am on Thursday, January 13, and those dealing with the aftermath believe it must have been dumped at around 5.30pm on Wednesday.

High Peak Borough Council member Peter Roberts, who represents the village, said: “People are very, very angry. This is a small community where everyone helps each other and the club is very much a focal point of village life.

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“We have regular litter-picks to keep the village as tidy as possible, so to see something like this is quite heart-breaking.”

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The rubbish was dumped on a grass verge at the rear of Peak Dale bowling club's car park.The rubbish was dumped on a grass verge at the rear of Peak Dale bowling club's car park.
The rubbish was dumped on a grass verge at the rear of Peak Dale bowling club's car park.

The assortment of junk left in the car park suggests it may have originated from someone involved in the building trades, or carrying out property improvements.

Councillor Roberts said: “There’s a green wheelie bin, parts of a patio heater, a trolley jack, a pre-pay electric meter, work gloves, tonne waste bags, pipework, a considerable number of radiator valves and a lot of foam cladding of the sort used on heating systems.”

Villagers have been on alert in recent weeks due to a spate of suspected break-in attempts, and passers-by have reported seeing a dark coloured car and a light-coloured Luton van in the car park for around 30 minutes around the time the fly-tipping is thought to have occurred took place, although there were no obvious signs of what the vehicles were there for .

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Coun Roberts said: “We do have CCTV footage from a neighbouring property on School Road which shows vehicles fitting that description exiting the car park, although unfortunately their headlights shone into the camera and so we couldn’t see their registration plates.

The assorted waste included items such as this electricity meter.The assorted waste included items such as this electricity meter.
The assorted waste included items such as this electricity meter.
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“I have asked the council’s investigation team to take a look and hopefully they can trace the vehicles somehow.”

He added: “I’ve also asked the council’s environment team to conduct the clean-up.”

Anyone with information which might help the council’s investigation can submit it online via https://www.highpeak.gov.uk/Report_It.

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