Bristol residents resort to making mound out of rubbish uncollected for a month
Families in Hartcliffe have created a rubbish mountain in their street after being left without bin collections for almost a month.
Residents in Bellamy Avenue say their wheelie bins have not been emptied since May 9 because of the Sita strike.
They have begun piling bags of rubbish up on patch of grass next to the road because they claim there wasn't enough room outside their homes for four weeks' worth of household waste.
A sign has been put up next to the mound of black bags and garden waste which reads: "Last collected May 9".
Their wheelie bins were due to be collected on May 23 but were not emptied because it was the first day of the Sita strike. The rubbish was due to be collected yesterday but, as of 2pm, it remained in the street.
Bellamy Avenue resident Steve Sainsbury, 52, an internet trader who lives with his wife Debs, 47, and two children, said: "Our rubbish was posing a fire hazard because it was up against a wooden fence
"Workmen are digging up the gas main next to our house and there wasn't room to get the car on the drive because of all the bags of rubbish in the way.
"We moved it onto the grass and then three neighbours began adding their rubbish to the pile. It's beginning to smell a bit now.
"We phoned the council four or five times about it. We were told on Thursday that they would not pick it up for two more weeks. Some of these binmen are on a basic salary of £23,000 yet they are carrying on with this strike like it's the 1970s."
Mr Sainsbury's neighbour Bob Butcher, 60, a retired binman, said: "I used to work as a binman in the days before wheelie bins and it was a lot harder then. I don't feel sorry for them – what the Sita workers have asked for is a bit much."
Catherine Frankpitt, spokeswoman for Bristol City Council, said: "A pile of waste such as this creates a significant health risk and forces Sita to divert crews from their scheduled and catch-up collections to deal with it. We recognise this is a difficult situation and totally understand people's frustration with the strike but we reiterate the advice to residents to put out their waste and recycling on their regular collection days and wait for it to be picked up.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure that Sita provide as normal a service as possible during this time."
17 Comments
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by Janson Anderson, Knowlewest
Monday, June 08 2009, 11:28AM
“Sarah-go back in your box, your so boring!”
by george, bristol
Monday, June 08 2009, 8:48AM
“quote.'Sita had told the council they had done our street that very morning'
yet they did not leave to go back to the yard till 12.30 and i know that for a fact because i work for them.
so in affect more lies from sita saying it was done. how can it be done that morning if it was left halfway thru the street. (12.30) when they downed tools and all went back to the yards.
and you public wish to back 'sita' and blame the binmen when these lies are happening
sita trying to cover their ass with the council and trying to look inocent. i also know they claim for x amount of money for trucks and full crews to go out and either knock truck off of the road or send out trucks with 1 man down (surley a health and safety aspect their) then tell the council that that paticular truck has run that day and claim the money for it.
before you say 'oh operational needs' please be aware that the guys working at sita know that this is not the case and you cannot comment unless you are 100% this is the case . just plain greedy management as usual trying to get their bonus for end of yr.”
by margaret, hartcliffe
Sunday, June 07 2009, 9:22PM
“MARK you never vseem to miss an oppurtunity to make snidy comments about people in hartcliffe on benefits , this strike has affected all of bristol ,and has occured by men who are employed so what on earth has this got to do with hartcliffe ,and read the paper properly and you will find there are many of the so called posh parts of bristol with more problems than we have ,and my bin was emptied sunday and by much tidier and cheerier men than the usual mob”
by trinity, Hartcliffe
Sunday, June 07 2009, 8:10PM
“The council brought in crews from other areas. Well done to these men and women. It can't be nice clearing rubbish that's been there for some weeks. Hope they had some nice overtime.”
by MendipMan, Wurzel Country
Sunday, June 07 2009, 7:15PM
“The bins in our street had been left out since last Wednesday, the normal emptying day. I had given up on their being emptied until the strike is settled. Like us, most people in the street had left them out, in hope rather than expectation.
Imagine our surprise when at 8am today (Sunday!) a bin lorry came along the street emptying all the black bins. I don't know who the crew were but they sped along at a much quicker rate than the normal crews.
I've criticised Sita, the union and the council on here in recent days but fair's fair so well done and thank you to whoever was responsible for this morning's clearance.”