'We're absolutely sick of fly-tipping - this time it looks like a cannabis farm was dumped'
12.04.2024 - 06:17
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A fly-tipping hotspot in Saddleworth was hit with one of its biggest piles of rubbish yet - with locals suspecting it was the remnants of an ‘abandoned cannabis farm’. The waste was dumped on Harrop Edge Lane, just off Huddersfield Road near Delph.
An ex-resident, who regularly commutes to the area and reported the site to the council, said: “It was drug paraphernalia - it looked like it was from a cannabis growth.
“It’s just disgusting. People who are dropping there think it’s out of the way - but it’s not. It’s near a very busy road.”
READ MORE: The red tent camp outside Manchester town hall - and why it's 'not helping anyone'
Pictures show rolls of plastic sheeting; felt pots with soil; silver ducting; and plastic garden sticks among other litter. The council has removed the waste, but was unable to confirm the nature of the fly-tipped material.
“Oldham council moved it very quickly,” the ex-resident added. “Fingers crossed they will learn from this and potentially put a £15 battery-operated night-vision camera to catch people there.”
The incident is the latest in a slew of fly-tipping sprees to hit the area in recent months. Another large load was picked up on the A635, on a stretch of road known locally as Isle of Skye.
“It seems to be getting worse,” one person said “The amount of rubbish is just horrendous.
“There are pockets of Oldham that are an absolute disgrace. Some places in Oldham are dirtier than city-centre Manchester - which shouldn’t be.”
A spokesperson for the town hall said it was was ‘working hard’ to crack down on fly-tippers. They said that while a vast majority of Oldham residents 'clean up after themselves and dispose of their litter properly, sadly, a small minority don’t'.
“We do use