Neighbours demand action after rubbish heap blights street

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

People living near a house where rubbish has piled up are urging the local council to take action after significant delays in its removal.

They claim it’s not the first time rubbish has accumulated at the Frampton Road property in Gorseinon, and said it blighted the street.

A couple who contacted the Local Democracy Reporting Service claimed Swansea Council said it would clear the current pile of rubbish in the summer and then, when that didn’t happen, by the end of October.

The council said it acknowledged the distress the rubbish was causing for local people and that it intended to remove it and seek the costs of doing so from the owner.

The couple, who asked not to be named, said they’d had support from their local councillor, Nicola Matthews, and that the officials they’d spoken to had been polite and often sympathetic.

“Nothing, however, has changed,” they said. “There it all is still – rubbish piled high on the driveway on one side of the house, and stuffed into the narrow pathway beside the house on the other side.

“It is negatively affecting our quality of life and is always on our minds. Why is no-one at all accountable for this mess? If any of us wished to sell our properties, no-one would buy them because no-one wants to live near a tip.”

They said they were also worried about a potential fire hazard due to items including soft furnishings and what they say were old gas canisters. They claimed the council has previously removed a load of rubbish from the property.

A council spokesman said: “We are aware of the waste currently being stored on private land and the distress this is causing for locals in the community.

“Efforts have been made to engage with the homeowner, and we have previously instructed them to remove the waste.

“Enforcement notices have also been issued to the homeowner in relation to the waste. Following a lack of compliance with the enforcement notice, steps are now being taken by the council to remove the waste and we will seek to recover costs from the homeowner.”

The detached house is currently vacant and a person who formerly lived there said it was going through probate – a legal process under which a deceased individual’s estate is managed.

The person said this process had been ongoing for nearly a year and that when it was concluded the rubbish would be removed straight away and the house sold.