A resident of a city centre block has described having to ‘seal up’ the windows of his home because of the bins in the street below.
Brian Donald is a resident in Northpoint House, located on Edgehill Street in the Northern Quarter, nestled behind High Street. Edgehill Street is narrow, and where several businesses leave their bins.
It means the road is blocked, but worse is the smell produced by the refuse containers — and the vermin they attract, 64-year-old Brian explained. The council says it is ‘aware’ of the ‘ongoing issue’, which it calls ‘unacceptable’.
“Our front door is right by the bins,” Brian, who has lived in Manchester since 2018, said. “All my windows look down onto the bins. I have sealed up all my windows.”
Currently, scaffolding is up on Edgehill Street, which — combined with the bins — means rats are frequent visitors to the area. Brian went on: “There’s a derelict building at one end of the street with scaffolding on. In the evening, you can see three or four rats in a couple of minutes.”
Brian feels that because his block is a housing association building, he and his neighbours have been forgotten about. “There are really nice people living here, with a really good residents’ association,” he added.
“We are really decent people and nice people who are trying to get things done. I pay £500 a month in rent. It’s a cheap rent but I wonder if people look at us and think they are not worth it.”
Brian says he has made a complaint to the council about the bins. The authority told the M.E.N. that the situation was ‘unacceptable’.
"We are aware of an ongoing issue with commercial waste containers overflowing on Edgehill St,” Coun Lee-Ann Igbon, its executive member for vibrant neighbourhoods, said. “It is totally unacceptable for rubbish like this to be dumped in alleyways and creates problems for our residents.
"Our teams are investigating this issue and exploring a number of options to resolve this matter.”
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