GROUP of fed up Ebbw Fach residents have launched a petition in the hope Blaenau Gwent Council will reopen a waste disposal site in the valley.

Over the past month residents have posted pictures of the increasing amount of fly-tipping on the council’s social media site.

They believe the increase is a result of the closures of the Bournville waste site in Blaina and Silent Valley in Cwm last November.

Antony Partridge, 29, from Abertillery, and other Ebbw Fach residents have launched a community group called “Cope” or Community Objectives for Parity in the Ebbw Fach valley. They aim to make sure Ebbw Fach receives equal treatment with the rest of Blaenau Gwent when it comes to funding.

As part of this campaign, on Monday they launched a petition in the hope that the council will open or re-open a sufficient waste disposal site in the valley. The petition now has nearly 200 signatures.

Mr Partridge said: “They have recently withdrawn the funding for our site in Bournville and it has subsequently closed. Further to this the council has also imposed charges to residents of £10 per collection. This has led to an increase in fly-tipping, which is creating a blemish in our community – a community which is trying to maximise its tourism potential. Tourism is the only industry that is growing in the area.”

For residents in Abertillery the nearest site is now eight miles away. Blaenau Gwent Council’s environmental health team looked at the number of complaints concerning fly-tipping incidents between November 1 and February 28, the period since the Bournville site closed. During this time there were 152 reports of fly-tipping, a 29 per cent increase from 118 the previous year.

A council spokeswoman said: “The council continues to pursue and prosecute fly-tipping offenders where appropriate and during the period of November to February, 12 waste regulation offences were prosecuted, including eight fly-tipping offences, three offences of allowing the escape of waste from a vehicle and one offence of failing to be registered as a waste carrier.”

To sign the petition see change.org/en-GB/petitions/1466519?just_created=true or facebook.com/copeblaenaugwent