‘We almost vomit each time we open our entrance doorways to harmful stench’
Residents are on the brink of vomiting every time they open their front doors due to a nauseating stench from unemptied bins in their apartment block.
Marie Cowan, 66, from Fairfield, resides in a block of 60 flats and alleges that the bins haven’t been emptied for nearly a month. She claims there are around 80 bin bags piled up, creating a foul smell in the bin shed, which is directly opposite her front door. The smell has become so unbearable, Marie has told her son not to bring his baby around for visits anymore.
Marie, who lives in Treetop flats, owned by Plus Dane Housing, told the Liverpool Echo: “I live in a block of flats in Fairfield – there are 60 flats in the block – that’s a lot of people and the bins haven’t been emptied for about four weeks now. I live next to the bin shed, I’m on the ground floor and face it, when you go in it [the bin shed] the bins are stacked up to the ceiling. And the smell of it…There are a lot of people in wheelchairs, some people have no legs who live here and it’s just dangerous for them. It’s unhealthy for us to be in these conditions.”
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Marie’s neighbour and good friend, Amir Minhas, 67, is one of the residents living in Treetop flats who uses a wheelchair and struggles to access the bin shed, especially in its current state. She added: “The flats are three floors so many of them have to bring their bin bags all the way downstairs.”
(Image: Liverpool echo)
“It’s a lot for old people and people in wheelchairs. I open my front door and I can smell them, it’s causing me a lot of problems because I live opposite them. I even told my son not to bring their baby over to see me anymore until its sorted, because the smell is that bad. The warm weather we had is making it smell even worse,” said Marie, who has lived in the building for nine years. She claims she and other residents have complained to Liverpool council, asking them to collect the bins.
“There are four or five massive bins in there where we put our bin bags, you can’t even get in the door at the moment because there are so many bags dumped there. There must be 80 bin bags there at the moment,” she added. The 66-year-old expressed her frustration with Liverpool council.
She alleges that Treetop residents pay a monthly fee to Plus Dane Housing for the bins to be emptied, gardens to be maintained, and for the windows and communal areas to be cleaned – but they’re paying for a service that isn’t being provided. “We pay monthly for this service that isn’t being provided. The bins haven’t been washed out once since I moved in. One of the residents cleans the bin shed out when they get emptied because no one else comes and does it,” Marie added.
(Image: Liverpool echo)
“I put a bin bag out yesterday and I was nearly vomiting when I went out because of the smell of it, it’s not nice when you are coming out of your own house.”
A spokesperson for Liverpool council said: “Domestic waste collections at Tree Top Court are carried out every 2 weeks on a Wednesday. The collection crew did not report any issue on the last scheduled collection day. Collection is next due tomorrow (8th May) and will be monitored by a waste collection supervisor to ensure all waste is taken.”
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