Fly-tipping and full bins blight street
Maidenhead: Complaints of stinking mess from uncollected rubbish
A central Maidenhead street continues to be blighted by a fly-tipping problem that has left overflowing bins unemptied for six weeks.
Maria Meerstadt, of Grenfell Avenue, posted photos of the mess on social media site Nextdoor and expressed frustration over the council response.
“Two large bins have been filled to overflowing and left to rot at the end of our avenue,” she wrote on Tuesday, August 9. “They have split and they stink.
“On the opposite side of the avenue we have [more] overflowing bins and someone has filled the old recycling boxes with bricks. The bins have been there for at least six weeks.”
However, her call to the council for help was not fruitful. Maria says she was told the council could not move the bins unless they know who owns them.
“So basically every fortnight they collect the rubbish from the avenue and leave the stinking overflowing bins,” said Maria.
“I got a message from Serco [the borough’s contracted rubbish collectors] to say they suspected it was fly-tipping and therefore could do nothing.
“Once again the avenue is a stinking mess that we pay council tax to maintain. I cannot believe the fly-tipping and filth on the avenue.
“It is never cleaned.”
She says that the empty bins are left on the avenue and the result is that people ‘just cram them full of rubbish until they are unmanageable’.
The rubbish was finally cleared on Wednesday, August 10.
However, Maria said the council did not actually respond to her in any way.
This is the second time the street has been blighted by flytipped bulky waste this year, with problems also reported in March.
A number of large items including chairs, doors, mattresses and shopping trolleys had been dumped there.
Maria then noted that the problem has been ongoing – that ‘half the residents don’t have dustbins’ and yet more bins are broken or ‘never emptied’.
Cllr David Cannon, cabinet member for public protection, said: “There have been several reports of fly-tipping in Grenfell Avenue in the last year and the waste has been removed as quickly as possible.
“Most recently, waste including rubble apparently from home improvement works, was dumped in wheelie bins and old recycling boxes, instead of being disposed of responsibly at household recycling centres or by a licensed waste collector.
“As this was fly-tipping, it was quite rightly left by our bin crews, though it has since been cleared by the council.
“We always seek to prosecute or fine fly-tippers when there is sufficient evidence to identify an offender.
“We will be writing to households in the area to remind people of what can be disposed of in bins and appeal for any information to help identify those responsible.
“It is the responsibility of residents to use their bins correctly and ensure they are marked with their property number.
“Fly-tipping is unacceptable, illegal, pollutes the environment for everyone and wastes public money in clear-up costs.”
If residents do not have a bin, or their bin is damaged, they can order a new one at www.rbwm.gov.uk/home/environment-and-waste/recycling-andrubbish/order-new-bin or call customer services.