Residents forced to remove huge amount of rubbish

RESIDENTS of Carlton Drive took matters into their own hands recently when they stepped up to remove mountains of waste outside a house in the area.

Explaining the operation community worker Andy Gallagher said questions need to be asked of both council and Apex Housing Association, which owns the house. He explained, “The man who lives in this house is vulnerable and he’s been really struggling. I have been negotiating with Apex the past number of months in an attempt to get him some assistance, both inside and outside of the house, such as cutting grass, taking out his rubbish, etc. unfortunately he is not capable of doing these things by himself. What I would like to see is a care package put in place to help him.

“Apex and council’s environmental health have to up their game in respect to this on-going and unacceptable nightmare. The Carlton Drive/Greeves Park Community Association have been pleading with these organisations for years to do something with regards the situation. Both organisations have statutory obligations to the tenant and his neighbours and those rights just aren’t being met.”

Mr Gallagher went on to say that, while they are happy to assist, it shouldn’t be the community’s responsibility to sort out the problem.

“We have a well-established community group here in Carlton Drive and Greeves Park and, if a neighbour needs help, we are only too happy to assist. We did this as a one-off to show both Apex and environmental health just how effective a community can be and we would like to see them buy-in and work with the community to ensure this never happens again.

“The environmental health department has told me they have procedures and they can take a considerable amount of time. We need something done now to help this man. Essentially both these bodies have been rendered ineffective and if you have a body which is ineffective, what use is it? How they become more effective is up to them. If these things are not dealt with in an adequate amount of time, it leads to mental health issues, not just for the tenant but their neighbours. I have spoken with neighbours who can’t even put their washing out as the smell permeates the clothes and is brought into the house, not to mention the fly and rodent problems which become apparent due to the waste. It’s very tragic and we will give this man any assistance we can, but it’s so frustrating as the statutory bodies designed to deal with this aren’t willing to communicate with the community sector.”

Both Apex and the council’s environmental health department were contacted for comment on the issue. A spokesperson for Apex Housing Association said, “We are aware of the issues around this tenancy in respect of the accumulation of rubbish. Guided by our policies and procedures, we continue to work to address the matter.”

And a council spokesperson said council officers continue to engage with the tenant and housing association that owns the property who have responsibility to ensure that it is in compliance with the necessary legislation into the future.