Residents in a Scots neighbourhood have been forced to fork out on private rat exterminators and buy their own bins due to regular missed collections. Locals at Bishopsmill Court in Yorkhill, Glasgow, say they are at their “wits end” amid a battle with the council over the ongoing cleansing issue.
They told our sister title, Glasgow Live, how they have had to fight “tooth and nail” to get a collection in December after bins sat for two months – despite living near a local depo. And now, they are considering stumping up for private collections amid a near decade-long struggle.
The bins have been left to pile high.
(Image: Glasgow Live)
A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “This has been ongoing since 2017 and no one seems to know why. We are going up to six weeks without a collection.
“We’ve spoken to managers at the Western Depo and they say they can’t make the guys on the ground collect the bins. No one seems to know why they don’t want to.
“I’m not sure if they are refusing because we complained or because there are rats but they have created both issues themselves.”
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Residents claim the problem has gotten so bad that management had to escort a bin lorry onto the property to ensure that they were collecting the bins. The resident said: “For four weeks, the bins were collected, but as soon as the escort stopped, so did the bin collection.
“If I look out my window and I can see the bin lorries leaving the depot, it’s unbelievable. One day, I saw the neighbouring student flats getting their bins collected and I asked if they would collect ours since they hadn’t been done in five weeks.
“They said it was a private collection they pay for, like we don’t also pay for ours to be collected. The attitude gets to you.”
Bishopsmill Court in Yorkhill
(Image: Google)
Homeowners and tenants at the converted mill say they have had enough and are considering private waste collection. The resident added: “If this continues we are going to organise private bin collection an take Glasgow City Council to small claims court as a matter of complete extremity.
“It is either that or invite the rats in for dinner. We have had up to 40 rat nests around our bin area. We have had to hire a rat catcher several times a year. They are starting to get into people’s houses.
“Every time you go out, you can see them because there is a constant source of food. We are just watching the rubbish pile up and, with it, the problems. On a windy day, you can watch it all blowing into the River Kelvin. We live in a historic building, and people stop to take photos.
“It is embarrassing the state of the car park. This has just gone on for far too long. We are at our wit’s end. We refuse to live in filth.”
The resident has raised the issue with local politicians and the council and said they have been assured the problem will be solved. However, locals are not convinced after hearing similar promises made in the past.
They added: “I’ve got little faith in the promises. This has been ongoing for eight years.”
Glasgow Live approached Glasgow City Council for comment.
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