Clearing rubbish, removing burnt out cars and preventing fly-tipping has been the catalyst to practical action on many urban sites. Removing the remains of derelict buildings, fences, areas of concrete and so on may also be desirable for aesthetic reasons, or to make way for habitat creation, community gardens or other projects. Rubbish and debris does have its benefits for wildlife, and industrial dereliction has many interesting ecological effects, as well as having local history value. Sweeping away all evidence of man’s activity may not be the best approach, but for most people, removing the obvious evidence of fly- tipping and dereliction is an essential starting point to discourage further misuse of the site and to raise the profile of the area for local residents. Unacceptable refuse which is valuable for wildlife can be replaced by more acceptable substitutes such as ‘habitat piles’ of stones or timber, compost heaps, and dry stone walls and banks. Common ivy and other climbing plants can be planted to hide unsightly debris, at the same time as providing flowers, fruit and shelter for many organisms. Purpose-built animal homes can also be provided (see Chapter 10 – Workshop).
Rubbish provides winter hibernation sites for small mammals and amphibians, and nesting sites for many animals from March to October. Clearance of rubbish of all types is best done in early autumn, before hibernation.
For publicity purposes, take ‘before’ and ‘after ’ photos, and keep a record of the number of bags or skips filled.
Hazardous waste
Prior to work starting, the site should be checked by the project leader or site manager for any hazardous rubbish or debris. This might include chemicals, asbestos, medical waste, or other items. Contact the local office of the Environment Agency for advice if such items are found. Burnt-out and derelict cars have a range of serious hazards associated with them, and should be removed by licensed scrap dealers (see below). Any hazardous material or derelict cars that are not removed should be fenced off and marked, as should any that are uncovered during the course of work. If chemical leakage or a possibility of explosion is detected, then work should cease on the site.
Non-hazardous waste
Most people will see little beauty or benefit in rubbish or derelict buildings. However, some materials can be re-used on the site and many materials can be reclaimed. Check at your local waste disposal site about which materials they reclaim, so that materials can be sorted into different categories as you collect them.
Metal waste of all types can be collected for recycling. Before clearance work starts, try and estimate the amount of metal waste and have sufficient skips ready for collecting, to save handling it more than once. Prices will vary, but often scrap-metal collection can prove a worthwhile money-raising venture in its own right. Some scrap-metal merchants will deliver and collect their own skips. Check your local Yellow Pages for the best deal.
Metal waste can provide hibernation and nesting sites, especially when overgrown with bramble, ivy and other plants. Depending on the future use of the site, it may be best to leave the material in situ if it is already well grown over. Other metal material can be left to grow over if it is out of public view, and is likely to be left ‘unvandalised’ for long enough for it to become a useful habitat.
Large metal items that are not dangerous can be left as ‘vandal honeypots’. If they are moveable and there is an option for siting them, choose somewhere away from any features you wish to protect, sufficiently hidden that they do not constitute an eyesore, but accessible for children. With a bit of luck they will become a place for children to play or vandals to try and wreck, and keep them away from the places you want to protect.
Dumped furniture, old sofas, mattresses and other items are not usually worth reclaiming and should be put in a skip with general rubbish. Metal household items can be recycled. Plastic materials should be removed for disposal or recycling.
Items that are mainly wood can be left to rot down and provide dead wood habitat. In areas where anything made of wood is likely to be set on fire, some of the wood can be partly or completely buried, where it will form a valuable underground habitat for invertebrates and hibernating amphibians. Where this is impractical, remove wood off the site to prevent arson.
Provide sufficient skips at the site to remove the day’s collection of rubbish, and if possible arrange for the skips to be collected at the end of the day. Avoid leaving piles of material or full skips which may be sorted over or scattered by the next morning. The carriage and disposal of waste is covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990, although most voluntary activities are exempt. It would be advisable to check that any skip company used is registered to transport the waste you may generate.
Give a safety talk at the beginning of the day, and demonstrate the proper way of lifting heavy materials. Everyone should wear workgloves and suitable clothing. Wheelbarrows and winches may be needed for moving heavy items. Provide rubbish sacks and litter pickers for smaller items.
Clearance of large, heavy items will need JCBs, skid-steer loaders or dumpers. They must be driven only by trained and competent operators. Position skips to take advantage of any walls or banks which give easy access. Scaffold planks can be used to make a barrow run up to small skips. A pick up truck or trailer is useful for reaching larger skips. For clearance work of large heavy items a JCB or loader will be needed for loading items into the skip.
Fly-tipping and abandoned cars
All UK waste is subject to strict controls, and apart from disposal of household waste in your own garden, waste can only be deposited, recovered or disposed of by operators licensed by the local authority.
Fly-tipping is the dumping of domestic or commercial waste on unauthorised sites, usually from a vehicle. It is illegal, and is covered under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Anyone fly-tipping is liable to a fine of up to £20,000, or an unlimited amount if indicted to the Crown Court, or an offender can be sent to prison. It is also an offence to permit fly-tipping. The person controlling the use of the vehicle can also be prosecuted, which makes it possible for a prosecution to take place when only the vehicle, not the driver, can be identified. The police have powers to seize vehicles used for fly-tipping.
Newly-abandoned cars should be reported to the police. They or the local authority have the powers to remove abandoned cars, and charge the cost to owners, if they can be traced. Some scrap-metal merchants will remove cars that are accessible by a recovery vehicle, with the scrap value of the car usually balancing the cost of removal.
Fly-tipping and dumping of stolen and abandoned cars can be greatly reduced if vehicle access to the site can be prevented. The status of any rights of way which give access should be checked with the rights of way officer at the local authority. Vehicle access to paths that are bridleways or footpaths can be discouraged with bridle gates or stiles, although on some sites these may be vandalised. Large boulders, bollards or dry ditches may be more effective in stopping vehicle access, although other rights of access must not be infringed.
Artifacts
Abandoned buildings, hard standings and other man- made features can be viewed as industrial heritage or dereliction, according to your point of view and your understanding of the site. Through the local press or by asking around, try and get in touch with people who worked on the site, or have knowledge passed down from previous generations. Such inquiries can generate an interest in a community’s roots, and prevent wholesale destruction of past activities.
The surroundings also have a great influence. A derelict building on a derelict site may have little appeal, but could be transformed to an interesting ruin in a wildlife garden.
Safety is an important consideration when deciding what to do with redundant buildings and other artifacts. Demolishing is the usual course of action, to tidy the site, avoid potential dangers, and to prevent buildings attracting anti-social activities. Demolition of any structure is covered by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations. If anyone is employed to carry out demolition work, advice should be sought from the local office of the Health and Safety Executive. Remaining walls that are low enough not to present a danger can be retained. As well as local history interest, old walls provide habitats for lichens, mosses and climbing plants, and create conditions of shade and damp, shelter and warmth. The wildlife value of the wall will depend on its construction, and the state of the mortar; cavity walls with soft mortar being more habitable than very sound walls.
Building rubble of all types can usually be re-used on site, and should be viewed as a potential bonus rather than a problem. Piles of rubble are perfect hibernation and nesting habitats for all sorts of animals, and will soon become partly grown over and disguised by vegetation. Rubble can be re-used for building walls within the site to delineate different areas and as wildlife habitats. Building rubble is a magnet for children, and as long as it is not dangerous to climb on can be left as a ‘honeypot’ feature. However, it may need to be removed if its use as a source of missiles could endanger any passers-by or property.
Hard standings of concrete are also part of the site’s history, and some may be worth retaining for this reason alone. With time, plants germinate in cracks, and spread in from the edges, and in sunny weather, the warmth of the concrete may attract basking invertebrates or reptiles. Plant growth can be encouraged by cracking the concrete.
Broken up concrete can be used for habitat piles and walls. Concrete crushed into smaller pieces can be rotavated into the subsoil to make a good free draining substrate for supporting flower rich meadows.
Coarse gravel, brick rubble and spreads of other free draining material are in effect like mountain screes, fixed dunes or stony beaches, and like them, support interesting plant communities. A Sheffield site benefited from a technique to combine these spontaneous communities with more managed and conventionally green areas.
Underground and overhead services
These include electricity, gas, water and telecom- munications. It should be assumed that all urban sites have underground services until proven otherwise. Initially inspect the site for overhead services, and for the likelihood of underground services if the planned work includes disturbing the ground. Then contact each of the utilities and the local authority to obtain current and complete plans of the depth and location of services. However, underground services plans are notoriously unreliable in their fine detail, as cables and pipes may ‘snake’ between points, or they may have been moved during subsequent work, or the plan itself may be only a large scale overall guide. If problems are indicated, request that the utilities trace the services accurately with a cable and pipe locating device. To do it yourself, devices can be hired that trace live electricity cables, metal pipes and plastic pipes with a metal tracer laid with them, and water pipes to which you have access at either end. Training is necessary for their use, and it is recommended that you take specialist advice as required.
Having located and marked the line of services, prohibit any digging or ground penetration work within 0.5 metres of the line, and any such work using power tools and mechanical excavators within 1 metre of the line.
For overhead cables, avoid working on trees or other structures within 3 metres of any cables. Plan work to prevent tools, people, vehicles and their attachments or other materials coming within 3 metres of overhead cables.
For further details see Avoiding danger from underground services, HS(G)47, Health and Safety Executive (1989).
