‘I saw a stand-off between a rat and a seagull the other day around the rubbish’
Residents and the council have called for more to be done(Image: WalesOnline)
Residents in a Cardiff suburb have said a new approach to waste in the capital is causing the road to look constantly messy.
Since Cardiff council turned to a new approach to waste management in the city, which includes a red bin for hard plastic and cans and a blue bin for card, people living in the suburb of Cathays have said the bags and containers – including the brown food caddy – are being left on the pavements outside people’s houses throughout the week, rather than being taken in by residents.
Sometimes the bins are also strewn across the roads and pictures from the student area show the bins, most of which have been emptied, on the pavement and in the road in the last few days. It comes weeks after the council told residents they could soon have an eighth bin.
Now a council spokesperson has reminded residents of the expectation to take bins from the pavement once they’ve been collected in order to avoid similarly messy scenes, while some residents claimed the current state of the streets is attracting rodents. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here
Pictures from the student area show the bins, most of which have been emptied, on the pavement and in the road(Image: WalesOnline)
Hakim Dualeh, 24, said the issue has always existed in Cathays and seems to be “progressively getting better”, although he said “over the last few months it’s been a bit of a pain to deal with”.
“We see a lot of bins left out, which then causes a lot of birds and rats. It’s just not something you want to see on your streets,” he said.
Josh Armstrong, 21, who is also a student, said: “I think a lot of the time it’s not just because of people, I think it’s also because of the weather.
“When you get up the wind [has] often just blown the empty sacks further away. There’s been quite a few times you accidentally pick up somebody else’s because it just blown towards yours.
“From our side, we can just be more active and just pick them up once they’re collected. I think everyone should be just doing better.”
This was the scene in Cathays when we visited(Image: WalesOnline)
Zahra, 33, who is also a student, said: “I saw a stand-off between a rat and a seagull the other day around the rubbish. You often see them congregating, it’s just not really nice to have to live around that.”
She also said “it just represents a complete lack of respect for the area” and called for a more “collective effort” from both the residents and the council to tackle the issue.
Another student, Hugo Gonzalez, 21, added: “It is annoying having to walk around them as you walk down the street.” He said he often sees rats and seagulls around bins that have been left.
Some residents have called for more to be done to prevent the issue persisting(Image: WalesOnline)
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council responded: “After collections take place residents are asked to bring sacks, bins and food caddies back onto their properties as soon as possible.
“This includes households without front gardens or frontages, where it remains the responsibility of residents to retrieve containers once they have been emptied. Waste presented incorrectly or in the wrong containers will not be collected.
“Any sacks and caddies left unclaimed are cleared by Cardiff council staff and this has been taking place on streets in Cathays over the past number of days.
“The council’s street scene officers are continuing to visit the area to remind residents not to leave containers on the pavement, and any containers left unclaimed will be removed.
“From April 1 onwards the introduction of new working practices will further strengthen street cleansing activity. By working together residents and the council can help keep Cardiff’s streets clean and welcoming for everyone.”