Residents of Sheffield's Lansdowne Estate off Washington Road say they are sick and tired of bin bags piling up in communal areas.
Over Christmas, several rotted-out and vermin infested wheelie bins across the estate were removed for good, with residents told to use the balcony bin chutes instead. This was welcomed by many.
But, as residents have complained, the chutes are too small and get blocked by bulky modern bin bangs. Add to that the remaining wheelie bins getting locked in sheds and it leads to one outcome - bin bags piling up across the estate.
I asked Lansdowne residents about their troubles, tried the bin chutes for myself, and spoke to Councillor Maroof Raouf about what could be done to address the issue.
Over Christmas, several rotted-out and vermin infested wheelie bins across the estate were removed for good, with residents told to use the balcony bin chutes instead. This was welcomed by many.
But, as residents have complained, the chutes are too small and get blocked by bulky modern bin bangs. Add to that the remaining wheelie bins getting locked in sheds and it leads to one outcome - bin bags piling up across the estate.
I asked Lansdowne residents about their troubles, tried the bin chutes for myself, and spoke to Councillor Maroof Raouf about what could be done to address the issue.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 We've come down to the Lansdowne Estate on Washington Road to talk to residents about the bins issues that we're having around here.
00:06 What we have here is one of the bin sheets that would have been installed here in 1963 when these flats were first built.
00:11 And the council say you should still be using those to get rid of all of your waste.
00:14 The problem is that that domestic waste has gotten significantly larger in the past, what, four or five decades since that has happened.
00:21 And people are saying that whenever they put their bins down here, it is going to get blocked and there is no way for it to get through.
00:26 Further they are saying that there are no open top skips around the estate or any wheelie bins anymore after they have been removed by the council.
00:33 So there is no way to get rid of large bulky waste except to block up these bins and that leads to more problems for people piling up their waste to get it to work because there is nowhere else to put them.
00:42 I've been equipped with some of the waste here. Let's see how things go down.
00:47 I've got to do this quite fast, don't mind me.
00:50 It does clear, we've got that right there. Let's try and put, can I put the entire bin in?
00:58 Just like that. This might be a lot larger than they used to be in the 60s.
01:03 And already we are having a bit of a disaster here.
01:09 Cleared and only a small amount of it in the meantime.
01:16 Followed up by two wine bottles. You might be asking why I'm not putting this in recycling.
01:21 That's because there is no glass in recycling around these parts.
01:24 There is no bin for glass and metal cans as far as I can see.
01:27 The only thing we have found so far is paper and card.
01:29 Which means this wine bottle and this beer bottle are going down here.
01:33 There was going to be a bang but it's not going to happen.
01:39 I suppose this is where the bin chutes would come out.
01:43 And if you are really desperate you could come down here with your bags, throw open these doors and throw them in.
01:48 But I suppose if possibly, I don't know if you are elderly or disabled or even if these doors are just locked,
01:53 that's not going to be an option to you. You are going to have to use these bin chutes.
01:56 And if they get blocked you've got no options at all I suppose.
01:59 I spoke to Green Party War councillor for Netheredge and Sharrow, Maru Faraf to ask what the council might be doing about the problem.
02:06 Well I think the issue really is the size of the bin chutes.
02:11 Bin chutes aren't large enough for modern household waste.
02:15 I think that's pretty clear to see if you look at it.
02:17 You can't lock the building down and start building the bigger chutes.
02:21 I understand that.
02:22 But there are alternatives that the council could do on quite a few of the different stairwells with bin chutes.
02:31 For example, you've got a balcony right next to the stairwell and the council could build a bin chute over the balcony that goes directly into the bins.
02:41 A much larger bin chute.
02:43 And actually that would alleviate quite a number of problems.
02:46 But I think the biggest worry really is the risk of fire and it's a massive fire safety risk.
02:51 It's unfair to ask residents to carry large, really large bulky items with them halfway across the estate.
03:01 Especially given how the estate is designed and the poor drainage on the estate.