In a recently submitted petition 109 angry residents of Surbiton called for a daily clean-up or a closedown of the recycling site on Raeburn Avenue.
It is the residents’ second attempt to get the council to take action against the garbage chaos caused by the small recycling area in an otherwise clean and tidy neighborhood. A similar petition, submitted about four years ago, led to no result.
John Brocking, the resident who started the petition this time, said: “I pass there with my daughter sometimes and there are used sanitary towels, nappies and human waste everywhere. The strangest bit of waste I have seen there was a fridge full of rotten meat.”
Currently, the council do not collect the fly tipped rubbish from the site at weekends or public holidays. This means that garbage builds up at the site, the bags are torn open by foxes and rubbish spreads everywhere.
Even on days when the rubbish collectors clean the site they sometimes leave half of the trash behind.
This became increasingly problematic as not only private households use the recycling site, but also a lot of commercial waste is being dropped there.
The council installed a CCTV system a couple of years ago to monitor the site, but so far the residents of Raeburn Avenue have not seen any improvement in the situation.
Mr Brocking, who lives close to the recycling area said: “If you do phone the service centre they do not seem concerned at all and rarely actually do anything to address the concerns raised. The operators have advised that the site will never be shut down or properly maintained and we have to learn to live with it.
“The council should be hand sweeping at the weekends. I have lived here for six years and never once seen this happening. The frequency quality of collection has deteriorated significantly in the last year.”
The petition is backed by Conservative councillor Richard Hudson who said he walks his dog in this area and he finds the situation intolerable.
Photo courtesy of John Brocking
