Report environmental issues in your area

Fly-tipping

Fly-tipping is the illegal dumping of household or trade waste. It can vary in size, from as little as a single bag of rubbish to domestic items such as furniture and fridges. We remove fly-tipping from publicly-owned land, which includes roads and lay-bys.

Graffiti

We class graffiti as the unauthorised writing or drawing on any building or property. Graffiti is illegal and can lead to us issuing a fixed penalty notice (FPN) if you're caught. The council are responsible for the removal of graffiti from public buildings, public property and street furniture. We also offer a service to remove offensive and non-offensive graffiti from private homes and businesses.

Dog fouling

We are responsible for keeping public areas like parks and pavements clear of dog mess. To keep these areas clean, we have adopted a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which means it is an offence to let a dog that you are in charge of foul and not clear it up. This applies even if you are not with the dog at the time.

Environmental antisocial behaviour

Our teams can help deal with issues such as fly-tipping or waste in gardens/yards.

Littering

We are responsible for cleaning all roads and footpaths in Gateshead, as well as emptying all litter bins. This is usually done as part of a set schedule across the borough, but where operationally possible we do respond to reports of high volumes of litter or anything causing a potential hazard.

Overflowing bins

We are responsible for emptying most street bins in Gateshead, including litter bins and dog waste bins. If you see a bin that is overflowing, you can report it to us and we will try to empty it as soon as operationally possible. If an officer reviews the report and deems it urgent, we will get it emptied within one working day.

Potholes

We assess each pothole by the risk it poses to road users. We aim to visit and inspect all reports within ten working days.  If it's considered a safety risk by our inspection team, we will make the area safe as soon as possible. This may include temporary measures before work begins. It can take up to eight weeks for potholes to be fixed completely.

Blocked drain or gully

Road gullies are usually found at the edge of the road where the road meets the pavement. They allow water to drain away from roads and footpaths to prevent flooding. We aim to visit all reports within two working days to inspect the problem.

Street lights

We investigate all street lighting reports as soon as possible, but this can take up to 10 working days depending on the type of issue reported. Faults that are classed as more serious will be inspected within 24 hours.

Abandoned vehicles

If you suspect a vehicle has been abandoned, please check to see if it has road tax and MOT on the Gov.uk website. If it has road tax, MOT, is not stolen and there are no parking restrictions where it is parked on the road, we probably won't be able to treat it as an abandoned vehicle.

Fly-posting

We class fly-posting as the unauthorised advertising of posters and stickers on any building or property. Fly-posting is illegal and can lead to us issuing a fixed penalty notice (FPN) if you're caught. The council are responsible for the removal of fly-posting from public buildings, public property and street furniture.

Grounds maintenance

We do all we can to ensure grassed and planted areas are kept neat and tidy for the enjoyment of residents and to benefit our wildlife. This includes grass cutting, treating weeds, managing hedges, shrubs and bushes and treating Japanese knotweed on our own land.

Tree issues

Trees are living, growing organisms and like other plants they may from time to time require maintenance work. We are responsible for the management and maintenance of trees on council land and on council-owned properties in Gateshead.

Fixed play equipment

Many of our parks have play areas that contain fixed play equipment that is inspected regularly by our staff. If you have noticed a problem with damaged or broken play equipment that may be dangerous, or damage to the floor around play equipment, you can report it to us using our online form.