Birmingham Residents Feel 'Forgotten' as Bin Strike Leaves Rubbish Piling Up Since Christmas
A Kings Norton resident has described the 'grim' reality of living on a Birmingham road where bins 'haven't been collected since Christmas', leaving the local community feeling completely 'forgotten about' by authorities.
'The Pile is Now Taller Than Me'
The resident, who lives on Navigation Drive in the Kings Norton area, spoke out about the growing environmental crisis affecting approximately twenty flats that share a communal bin area. 'It's been awful, it's getting worse every day', she explained, noting that while bin collection services continue for surrounding houses, the apartment blocks appear to be consistently overlooked.
'Our bins haven't been collected since Christmas', she stated. 'Binmen are collecting rubbish around the houses but seem to be ignoring the apartment blocks. We see them when they arrive and they just carry on without looking.'
The situation has reached such concerning proportions that the resident reported: 'The pile of bin bags is now taller than me, it's absolutely crazy.'
Fears of Rat Infestations and Environmental Hazards
With weeks of accumulated waste creating significant health and environmental concerns, residents are now worrying about potential rat infestations and other vermin problems. 'I can't believe we haven't seen rats yet', the resident remarked, highlighting that cats have already begun tearing open rubbish bags scattered around the area.
'Cats have started ripping apart bags of the rubbish and a concern is that we will start getting rats', she warned. 'It's getting really grim at the moment.'
The resident expressed particular frustration about the lack of communication from local authorities, despite repeated attempts to report the issue. 'I don't know what we're supposed to do. We've reported it to the council but we've received nothing back.'
Council Response and Ongoing Industrial Action
City environment boss Councillor Majid Mahmood responded to the concerns, stating: 'We are sorry to hear about the issues experienced by residents on Navigation Drive, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.'
He acknowledged the frustration caused by waste build-up and confirmed that waste teams would attempt to assess the reported missed collections from apartment blocks over the weekend.
Despite the ongoing industrial action affecting waste services, Councillor Mahmood emphasised that the council's contingency plan should ensure all residents receive at least one waste collection each week. 'This contingency plan is working, and despite the disruption it has caused, productivity has improved', he noted, citing specific statistics including:
- A 52% improvement rate on missed collections
- A 22% improvement on tonnage collected per employee
- Fewer complaints than prior to the strike action
The resident revealed that there had been a brief period of improvement several months ago when bins were being collected regularly, giving hope that the problems had been resolved. However, the current crisis began just before Christmas and has continued to escalate since then.
'We feel forgotten about', the Navigation Drive resident concluded, capturing the sentiment of many Birmingham communities affected by the ongoing waste collection issues during this prolonged period of industrial action.
