Hipster bars told to keep bins off street after locals kick up a stink
R E S I DE N T S o f o n e o f L o n d o n’s “coolest” streets today claimed victory over restaurants and bars in a row over rubbish bins.
Locals in Bermondsey Street, Southwark, have fought for the past two years to stop restaurants, bars and cafes leaving bins “overflowing with waste”.
The street, close to The Shard, is home to hipster joints, galleries, bespoke womenswear designers and warehouse apartment conversions.
Residents in the area include artist Norman Ackroyd and designer Dame Zandra Rhodes, who founded the Fashion and Textiles Museum in the street. The “Queen of Shops” Mary Portas opened one of her Living and Giving charity boutiques in Bermondsey Street last year.
The thoroughfare, where a new-build three-bed flat costs about £1.6 million, was once featured as south London’s “coolest quarter” in Vogue’s annual Secret Address Book.
But while its reputation has flourished, residents have been battling to stop the street becoming “blighted” by waste bins they claim have “taken over”. The campaign came to a head this week when Southwark council began issuing enforcement notices demanding businesses clean up their act .
Jonathan Beaumont, who has led the Bermondsey Street Area Partnership campaign for the past two years, said the problem started when restaurants “cheekily” kept their bins in the street rather than on their own premises.
“Restaurants and businesses arrived, contracted their own refuse company and placed as many bins as they wanted on the road and even on the pavement. Residents have had to deal with overflowing bins containing food waste, early morning collection times — often starting as early as 4am — and fly-tipping around the bins. Residents are regularly having their sleep disturbed.”
Mr Beaumont, 49, a travel writer who has lived in the street for 23 years, described the council’s action as “a major victory”. He named the José tapas bar, run by Spanish celebrity chef José Pizarro, as one of the main offenders.
A restaurant spokesman said: “We have recently been working with BSAP to help with the storage of the waste. We acted on all their suggested points in reducing the amount of bins and ensuring they are lockable. We are a very small, busy … bar with 16 seats and very little space. We have never had the situation where rubbish has to be stored inside the restaurant and will find this very hard to manage.” Southwark councillor Richard Livingstone said: “W e a r e delighted to h ave wo r ke d with the local community and been able to bring about this change.”