Council bin lorries cannot reach the site of the bin stores approved by council planners at new flats in Brighton.
As a result, collections have been repeatedly missed, rubbish has built up and a bin full of recycling became “fetid”.
One resident that repeated emails from a councillor had failed to resolve the problem and he said that he had personally moved the bins to a more visible spot himself.
The problems have caused two years of frustration for people at 251 Preston Road, a former children’s home that has been converted into flats.
Residents said that rubbish and recycling collections were repeatedly missed – and crews came only after lobbying their councillors in Withdean ward.
But each time the bin stores are cleared, they said, the problem starts again and the rubbish builds up until they complain again.
They pointed to a landscaping masterplan that was approved by Brighton and Hove City Council in 2019 which included the position of the bin stores.
But standard-size bin lorries from Cityclean, the council’s rubbish and recycling, cannot reach the bin stores, residents have been told.
One resident, Laura Garlington, moved into her home in August 2021 and has been chasing up missed collections ever since.
Ms Garlington said that, despite repeated emails since the middle of last month, rubbish and recycling collections continued to be missed.
She said that she was frustrated to see a lack of response from the council to repeated requests for action from one of her ward councillors, Green councillor Jamie Lloyd.
Southern Housing Association has also been liaising with the council because it manages the site which is a mix of shared ownership homes and leasehold properties.
Ms Garlington said: “They continue to cause a multitude of problems, not least health and safety, as the rubbish is left to rot for weeks at a time.
“In the worst instance, they left a bin of fetid recycling at the front of the property from February to May 2021 – directly outside someone’s home.
“Even when they did turn up to collect other items, they still left the bin there, which eventually became full to overflowing.”
Councillor Lloyd, who lives in the area and who represents Withdean ward, said that he tried to help practically by bringing the bins around to the gates whenever possible.
He said: “All councillors involve themselves in their community. It’s very local to me and it’s been easy to get their bins out and help the residents.
“I believe this will be resolved. There are some logistical issues around. I’ve asked the management of Cityclean to meet me there and we looked at the issues with the trucks getting in and out. I think they’ve found a solution now.
“I think the people who live there have done really well at communicating with me and Southern Housing and Cityclean when things don’t work properly – and I admire their tenacity to work until they get stuff done.”
Southern said that they thought the issue had been resolved by replacing the gravel at the entrance to the driveway and by Cityclean agreeing to use a smaller bin lorry.
The council said: “We’re really sorry about the refuse collection issues at 251 Preston Road and we are working with Southern Housing to address them.
“Our standard 26ft refuse vehicles cannot access the area at the back of the building where the bins are. This has contributed to missed collections. So we’re currently doing a pickup with a much smaller vehicle instead.
“We are monitoring the situation to ensure that residents receive regular collections. Our collection crews all have written rounds detailing which properties they need to collect from.”
what’s interesting is that the root cause of the issue isn’t investigated and no actions are taken against the council staff who made the error (it seems). So it’ll happen again, and again!
If the reporting is correct, it seems that plans were approved which couldn’t work.
The council keeps making errors. And if the root causes aren’t looked at then it will keep making errors….
It’s good that councillors are trying to help and moving bins around – but that really isn’t the answer. Why didn’t anyone spot that the bin store didn’t have suitable access for standard bin lorries? It shouldn’t be rocket science! Councillors should spend time not just fixing the issue but asking senior managers what went wrong, what actions have been taken to retrain staff, change processes etc so it doesn’t happen again. Sticking plasters aren’t the answer. We deserve better!
Those bins have wheels… Are the city clean people unable to move them or just too lazy.
The real scoop here is that Cllr Lloyd has done something useful!
You mean on top of using the Government as an excuse for everything?
Something really must be done to help these residents. A serious health and environmental problem becomes worse if no action is taken. I frequently visit Brighton and was appalled at the dumping at the corner of College Terrace in Kemptown.
I would almost say that the council should pay fines/reparations for their incompetence, except they will just increase our taxes to cover it rather than inconveniencing those responsible with pay deductions! So unfair that those making the mistakes are not actually held to account, whilst we have to dig deep to pay for their mistakes! Hope we get some sensible people in when the next elections come!!!