Access to a popular common has been blocked by the council in a bid to stop fly-tipping in the area.
Caerphilly County Borough Council has erected the barrier across the road leading to Cefn y Brithdir from the top of Red Ash Hill in Fochriw. It is part of a three-year Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).
However, Fochriw and Pentwyn Residents’ Association has contacted Caerphilly County Borough Council to ask for its removal.
Eddy Blanche, Chair of the Fochriw and Pentwyn Residents’ Association, told Caerphilly Observer: “I fully understand the need to combat fly tipping, but I don’t see why law-abiding people can’t do what they enjoy just because of a few people.”
He added: “They’ll just fly-tip somewhere else. This doesn’t solve the problem – it just moves it somewhere else.”
Darran Valley Community Council is also set to discuss the matter at a meeting on Thursday, January 3.
A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said the local authority had received a number of complaints from residents about the “extensive fly-tipping across the Cadw-designated Historic Landscape of Gelligaer and Merthyr Common” and that it had received complaints on a weekly basis about the problem on Cefn y Brithdir.
He added: “The introduction of a PSPO is the result of consultation and a balanced consideration of the issues across the common. These issues, include (but are not limited to) the detrimental impact of fly-tipping on the communities living around the landscape including the risk of harm to residents using the area; the degradation and pollution of habitat areas and river courses across the landscape caused by fly-tipping, as well as the danger it poses to the livestock which graze the landscape.
“Piloting the PSPO for three years will allow us to assess how effective it is as a measure designed to reduce fly-tipping over a fixed period of time. If there are other, more effective, reasonable and appropriate measures that could be taken, we are very keen to explore these as well.
“By continuing to work with the community and other stakeholders we hope to minimise any potential negative impacts of the PSPO. The barriers are open as part of this process, and details of the PSPO are available on the council’s website.”