invaded by litter, this town in Calvados raises its voice

See my news
Follow La Voix le Bocage

The numbers are overwhelming. In 2023, there are no less than “ 2,200 trash bags » which were noted in the commune of Villers-Bocage alone as “ wild dumps “, that is to say left in an unauthorized location, most often near garbage dumpsters or containers.

Or an average of more than 42 bags found every week in the streets of this town in Calvados.

A phenomenon that has clearly increased since 2021

A number in clear increasesince he jumped from “ 44 % between 2021 and 2023,” says Michel Le Mazier, the elected official in charge of monitoring this issue. “This may be due to the change in household waste managementwith the incentive fee, and the installation of collective containers (residents obtain a chipped bin or a badge to access these containers, depending on where they live, editor’s note). »

In any case, this negative trend has continued stabilized this year at this abnormally high levelsince 1,000 bags had already been counted at the end of the first half of 2024, at the end of June.

Obviously, this pile of waste poses several problems.

It’s up to the service agents to take care of it, it’s very disrespectful for them. In addition to the smell and the maggots in the summer heat, it sometimes even happens that they can no longer access the containers because there are so many bags around.

And even once collected, there is still to treat this waste, municipal fees“and therefore taxpayer ».

Surveillance work carried out

To try to stem this phenomenon, the councilor and the municipal police officer watch to the grain to identify fraudsters and prevent them from doing it again.

At the beginning of the containers, there could be some problems with badges to access them and a certain number of residents from other municipalities came to deposit their waste or put it in the small bins accessible in the municipality, probably on their way to work. Today, this is less the case, it is mainly locals.

This year, both were able to identify 21 people who were not not registered with the Pré-Bocage Intercom service (which manages the issue of waste in the area), while 12 PV were addressed for illegal dumping, in addition to three complaints deposited by the municipality (for even larger deposits, such as furniture).

Indeed, as a reminder, depositing, abandoning, throwing or dumping waste on public or private roads is punishable by fine of €135.

Meeting the residents

Certain sectors of the city, such as rue du maréchal Foch, rue aux grains and avenue de Brioude were particularly identified. Meetings are also planned there to try to to raise awareness the inhabitants.

“We have been in contact with the intercom since the beginning of the year because it was becoming too important,” adds Michel Le Mazier. “We planned together to host a meeting with the residents of rue Foch at the beginning of November to find a solution. We don’t plan to stop. »

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.