Fears as rubbish mounts in close’s communal bin shed
THE bins on a Leicestershire close are overflowing with rubbish which the binmen will not collect leaving them to attract rats, says a resident.
Rosalind Spooner, who lives in one of the flats owned by Platform Housing in Wykeham Close, Blaby, said she cannot open her windows due to the stench coming from the bin shed outside her flat.
Platform Housing swapped individual bin stores for each of the 14 blocks of flats on the close for four communal bin sheds about 18 months ago. The intention was for each block to have its own shed so rubbish would be spread out around the close, but Ms Spooner said the reality is quite different.
She said: “As usual, a lot of people are not taking any notice of where they should be putting their rubbish and they’re just putting it all in the one closest to ours, which is now just overflowing all the time.
“The dustbin men won’t pick it up because they’ll only take the actual rubbish that’s in the bins and by the time they come, they can’t even get to the bins because it’s overflowing with rubbish around it.
“They do send a man in a van every five or six weeks to empty it, but by then you’ve had around four weeks of not being able to open your windows and all sorts of things. The smell over the summer was terrible. Rats have been running in and out of the bins, because it’s just wooden slats that are open, so anything can go in there.”
Neil Greaves, head of community safety at Platform Housing, said: “We are sorry for the issues faced by some residents at Wykeham Close.
“We have contractors attending in early October to enlarge the bin store area, which will alleviate the problem, as well as digital locks being fitted to deter people using the closest bin in the bin store or fly-tipping.
“We will also resend correspondence to all the residents regarding the correct bins to use and household waste capacity.”
Ms Spooner said locks on the shed would be a welcome addition, but she believes making the sheds bigger is only going to make the situation worse.
She said many residents had been opposed to the change in rubbish storage when it was first announced, but were told it was necessary as the old bin stores were a fire hazard.
“This thing is less than two metres from my flat, it’s a wooden build,” she said.
“When it’s absolutely full of rubbish, if someone chucked a firework or something in there that would be a fire hazard.”
A lot of people are not taking any notice of where they should be putting their rubbish
Resident Rosalind Spooner
RAT MISERY FOR RESIDENT – AND STENCH FORCES HER TO KEEP HER WINDOWS SHUT