Zack Polanski’s Greens have condemned us to reside in Britain’s first eco-slum full of garbage, overflowing bins, rats and foxes, livid residents say

Residents say they have been condemned to live in the ‘UK’s first green slum’ after a ‘failed experiment’ by a council led by Zack Polanski’s Green Party has left their streets overflowing with rubbish. 

Locals of St Paul’s, Bristol, say their streets are regularly clogged with heaps of litter, attracting a community of rats and foxes. 

Household wheelie bins were replaced by communal bins, or ‘mini-recycling centres’, 15 years ago following concerns that pavements were too narrow to accommodate regular bins. 

Yet the number of homes in the area has since spiked from 2,500 to 4,000 after large homes were converted into flats, causing rubbish to overflow from the communal bins on to the streets. 

This has sparked fears among residents who say their homes are becoming part of the UK’s first ‘green slum’, with fingers being pointed at local authorities and their failed attempts to make the area ‘greener’.

Locals have called on Bristol City Council to ‘urgently’ abolish the communal bins, citing mounting rubbish that they say is attracting an increase in fly-tipping, poor sanitation and rats. 

Campaigner Pavlos Kyriacou, 61, who claims he coined the term ‘green slum’, said it is ‘bonkers’ that the ‘failed experiment’ has been allowed to continue. 

He said: ‘We cannot let St Paul’s become the UK’s first green slum. There are open bins in Bristol for the first time since the 1800s. This area is the land of time forgot! 

‘What is going on is truly grim and completely bonkers. 

‘The rest of the country has got used to recycling, but our island within St Pauls is treated differently because it is more convenience for the council.’

Under the policy – which was implemented under a Liberal Democrats majority – the area is allocated skips instead of individual wheelie bins, which lorries collect twice a week. The system is currently under review by the city council. 

The current state of St Paul’s has led to one resident, who does not wish to be named, to say: ‘It is not a case that it could become a green slum. It is one already.

‘Too late, its happened – St Paul’s is a green slum.’ 

Bristol City Council has not been under overall control since 2021, but the 2024 election saw the Green Party gain a majority, with leadership under Green Party councillor Tony Dyer. 

The resident added: ‘Since the Greens have been in charge I can certainly say the bin collection is much worse than before. 

‘I’ve seen poor leadership from all the main parties but the Greens have taken incompetence to a different level. 

‘They are destroying our city.’ 

Mr Kyriacou, who builds timber frames and eco-buildings, said the policy effectively allows one to ‘legally put out 240 bags of rubbish in one week’.

He continued: ‘As you can imagine, it really does not take very much for some bags to pile up in the skips, and then a lot of people don’t like touching the communal bins because they are deemed dirty. 

‘Bristol Waste deliberately do not replace the lids of the skips because then people put bin bags on top of the lid. 

‘So you’re left with a scenario where the bins have no lids in these enormous skips where waste then piles up to the sky!’

The waste then, Mr Kyriacou said, attracts ‘birds, rats and foxes’ as the street ‘gets sprawled in litter’ by the wind, creating a weekly – and sometimes daily – ‘endless cycle’.

Mr Kyriacou, who has lived in St Paul’s for three years, has been left frustrated after years of campaigning – and claims neither Bristol Waste nor the Green Party have taken accountability. 

He said: ‘It really does suck the life out of you.

‘Since I moved here I have been writing to Bristol Council, Bristol Waste and the local Green councillors but nothing gets done. 

‘Green councillors would blame Bristol Waste and vice versa!

‘Then I finally get told they are going to do a review into the system but then they decided to keep the skips.

‘This is happening at a time when we are being told we should be recycling more. It’s shocking.’ 

This sentiment is shared by another resident Johnnie Ball, who said the council ‘love meetings, love input but do not give a s*** about the outcomes’ – which includes rubbish becoming ‘ingrained’ on the streets. 

Mr Pavlos called for the redesign of the policies and systems, which should draw on £440,000 in funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to support 2026 recycling legislation. 

Another resident Tara Miran said the community has been campaigning as ‘The Better Streets Campaign’ for almost two years, including hosting an exhibition on rubbish.  

She said: ‘We invited everyone in the council and Bristol Waste to come and see what we have to live like.  

‘Communal bins and uncollected waste in St Paul’s are contributing to vermin, odour, unsafe pavements and poorer mental health and wellbeing.’ 

Local resident Edward Siebert added: ‘I don’t understand why it’s different. We have fallen into an admin gap but we pay the same council tax as everyone else, even though no one else has the same system.’ 

Green Party councillor Izzy Russell, who represents the Ashley ward and sits on the committee, apologised for giving residents false hope that the communal bins would be reviewed and that recycling containers and three-time weekly bin collections would be introduced.

They said: ‘They weren’t clearly. It has taken longer than I thought. 

‘But it is our agenda to and I do want to get rid of them. More is happening behind the scenes. 

‘I’m really sorry that is hasn’t happened sooner.’ 

Ken Lawson, who is the council’s head of waste, said: ‘I’m expecting the review this month to come back from Bristol Waste, to see how we can improve and reduce the number of large communal bins on the streets – and then with some long-term recommendations for how we could get rid of them entirely, or formalising some of the arrangements like you would have in blocks of flats.

‘All the skips, as you call them, we will be looking to get rid of them where we can.’

The allocation of extra cash to clear up fly-tipping was identified as part of a review into recycling in Bristol last year. 

Another plan included those living in flats being given rubbish bags, which would be collected through a dedicated service. 

This will be rolled out in parts of St Pauls where the council deems it ‘operationally feasible’. 

The council is also exploring whether landlords could be held accountable for placing bins on their properties instead of the street. All options will be presented to councillors in the summer. 

A Bristol Waste spokesperson said: ‘Following productive workshops with members of the community in St Paul’s last week, Bristol Waste and Bristol City Council would like to thank the residents, councillors, and local campaigners for sharing their insights.

‘Feedback from community members highlighted that challenges vary between streets and even sections of streets. It was clear from people’s feedback that what might work for one street might not be right for another.

‘The information gathered from these sessions will now be used to pull together an effective improvement plan that reflects the needs of St Paul’s.’