A Portslade man has been ordered to remove tonnes of rubbish from his back garden after neighbours complained it was like living next to a landfill.
Gary Cushing’s neighbours say the trash has been in the garden of his home in Old Shoreham Road for the last decade, attracting rats which have even got into their house.
It regularly overspills into the alleyway behind their houses, blocking access. And they say when he once tried to burn some of it, he almost set fire to their garden fence.
Brighton and Hove City Council served an enforcement notice on Mr Cushing’s ordering him to remove corrugated plastic, rubbish, disused materials, wood, bins, plastic containers, hardcore and rubble and materials related to keeping chickens in the rear garden and alleyway by 2 September.
Any remaining items must be stacked in one place.
He has also been ordered to trim and cut the shrubbery around the garden to a maximum of 50cm in height and from the boundary wall, cut the weeds and grass to within 5cm of the ground and then remove all garden cuttings from the land.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “I’m from Brazil – I never lived in a favela there, but now I have moved to one in Brighton.
“We shouldn’t have to live like this. It’s like living next door to a landfill.”
She said the junk had started building up in the garden about ten years ago. In 2017, Mr Cushing lit a fire to burn some of the junk, which almost set fire to the fence between their houses.
The alleyway behind their gardens was also regularly filled with rubbish, blocking it. She said she had recently heard chickens in the garden.
And it had also begun to attract rats, which she had recenty found in her house too.
She said other neighbours had also complained to the council.
Brighton and Hove News attempted to contact Mr Cushing, but had not heard back at the time of publication.
0 out of 10 for protecting the identity of the neighbour in that article.
Gender + nationality must narrow it down somewhat?
And ? The neighbour has a legitimate concern – and more power to them. Pretending they’re from Mars won’t change that.
Comments on the person causing the issue who seems to have lost the plot.
I’ve noticed some of the council high-rises are bad for hoarding junk and flytipping like this. In one sense, I’ve always liked the idea of a bulky waste amnesty day seasonally, where residents can get rid of their bulky waste for free. I feel the costs saved by not having to collect it as separate fly-tipping complaints more than justifies this.