What’s it like living in the litter capital of Wales?

Ted Peskett

Every year, pictures are posted online of the mess, including discarded mattresses and chairs, left in the streets of Cathays when students leave at the end of term.

This isn’t to mention the general litter and waste from torn mixed recycling bags being picked at by seagulls throughout the year.

Cycling up Cathays Terrace, the mess along its new cycle path is clear for all to see, including the rats darting in and out of the nearby rain gardens.

So how does it feel, to live in a place often considered synonymous with litter?

Simon Soymenides owner of Eat, Drink Greek said he had someone dump bags of unwanted clothes outside his property just a few days ago.

“It is bad. Sometimes you think to yourself is this the capital of Wales?” he said.

While local resident Terry Davies, 76, spoke about walking down the main roads in Cathays: “There are rats everywhere. If you stand still, particularly after dark… then somewhere or another a rat will cross your vision.”

The bright side

However, many people in Cathays also wanted to stress that there’s another side to the area that people did not always get to see.

The Parish Church of St Michaels and All Angels is one of many places of worship and community groups across the neighbourhood that carries out litter picks.

Their litter-picking group was set up about three months ago and meets up about once every month to six weeks.

A volunteer for the group, Mike Payne said: “The amount of people in Cathays who can see us litter picking and will then say ‘thanks very much for doing that’ or ‘we would like to get involved next time’… it does help people just to see that if they come together as a group they can make a positive difference to the area that they live in.

“Cathays is a really lovely place and in the main, the vast majority if people who live there are really nice, hardworking people and all we are trying to do as a local church is to give as many opportunities as possible to support that community.”

It is not too similar to Dar Ul Isra mosque, which has a foodbank that 80 to 90 families of all different faiths, ages and backgrounds in Cathays rely on every Saturday.

The mosque also has a litter-picking group. These started after discussions with Woodville Baptist Church for the community to get together and carry out street cleans.

Head of community outreach at the mosque, Mohammed Alamgir, acknowledged that Cathays has a “huge problem” with litter.

He put this down to Cathays having a large transient population.

“When you have got a transient population, there is not that responsibility of ‘do you know what? this is my home, I have been raised in this city, this is my street… let’s keep it tidy’.”

Hedgehogs

To combat the waste left behind at the end of term in summer, Cardiff Council carried out additional collections and street cleansing operations.

Maindy Road, with help from Cardiff University, is also in the process of becoming a hedgehog friendly street.

The idea came about when residents on the street noticed how many hedgehog sightings were reported in a community WhatsApp chat.

Maindy Road resident, Melissa Boothman, said the idea behind creating the community group was to bring the street closer together and help tackle some of the issues in their part of Cathays.

“I absolutely love it and feel like we have got good access to green spaces, but I just felt like there are some things that could be done about integrating students and residents better.

“By bringing the community together, raising awareness on things like litter, working with some of the students… who live here on making sure they put their litter out correctly at the right times.

“I know the council does a lot on raising awareness on these issues, but I do also think that if the community work together and we raise those issues from a grass-roots level… that is also worth its weight in gold.” said Melissa.

The hedgehog-friendly street will include signs to encourage drivers to go slower and be aware of the animals.

Another idea for the street is to have holes in peoples’ garden walls so that hedgehogs can access vital habitats.

Cardiff University is already part of a national campaign known as Hedgehog Friendly Campus, which is aimed at making university campuses better habitats for hedgehogs.

Green spaces

People who live in Cathays will tell you that one of the best things about living there is that it is well positioned, being fairly close to the city centre and to popular green spaces like Bute Park and Roath Park.

However, these spaces aren’t easily accessible for everyone in the community and a survey carried out by the university before the Covid-19 lockdown showed that residents wanted more green spaces in Cathays.

Through the Greening Cathays project, planters were set up and seeded on Fanny Street.

These have fallen into a bit of neglect lately, but project lead, Professor Les Baillie, said there were plans to resurrect this site and do further work in the area.

Professor Baillie said: “We are interested in the area in front of our new Spark building on the corner of Maindy Road and Llantrisant Street.

“That is basically a large concrete-paved area, but with the Muslim primary school on the corner we have been working with them to try and introduce some green into their location.”

Other areas the project is aiming to make greener is the railway station in Cathays and the space at the front of the Sherman Theatre.

A key aspect of Greening Cathays is getting the community involved and letting them lead on projects, according to Professor Baillie.

“If you think about it, the green space is the outcome, but it is the process by which they work together.

“We are very keen on students working with residents, we are very keen on them talking to each other [and] interacting.” said Professor Baillie.

Landlords

Due to the high student population, there is also a large number of landlords in the area.

One such landlord, Scott Harris, thinks improving the look of homes in the area could go a long way in making people respect their streets.

Scott, whose family have rented out properties in Cathays for decades under the name Harris Homes, said they had recently finished renovating a home on Monthermer Road and restored its frontage.

They have also painted the front of a property on Woodville Road.

“You see a few houses look nice and then other landlords start to think ‘oh, I could paint the front of my house’.” said Scott.

Scott said he thought landlords needed to play their part in improving the look of Cathays, but added that the council could help as well.

He added: “I do feel like Cathays is a bit neglected personally.

“I think the council should be working with landlords to encourage regeneration and improving the area.” said Scott.

Council

Cardiff Council ward member for Cathays, Cllr Sarah Merry, said: “The challenges we have in Cathays from the density of the population, high turnover and rubbish are the issues that understandably attract a lot of attention – especially at the end/start of term, but without wanting to minimise those, the work of residents to make a positive change rarely gets any recognition.”

Commenting on the mess along Cathays Terrace, a Cardiff Council spokesperson said: “The council provides facilities for residents to recycle their waste and it is vitally important that they are used correctly, otherwise waste will spill onto the streets, with birds and animals attacking the bags.”

For all information on waste and recycling services, use the Cardiff Gov App.