Residents of Selly Oak, a Birmingham neighbourhood popular with students, are voicing frustration over persistent rubbish issues and rat fears as the city prepares for crucial local elections on May 7. The elections come at a pivotal time for Birmingham, which has been grappling with a year-long bin strike and a financial crisis.
Rubbish Woes Persist
Elsa Ralph, a long-time resident of around three decades, described how rubbish is dumped on her street "constantly." She has been advocating for wheelie bins instead of bags for her neighbours. The rat problem, she says, is "really bad," showing holes in her garden fences where rodents chewed through. "We don't use the garden anymore," she said. "We can't leave the back door open on a nice night. The size of them, we thought it was a squirrel running round the back the other night." Ralph previously blamed the council's "blanket acceptance of HMOs" for contributing to waste issues.
Bin Strike Impact
Concerns escalated during the bin strike in spring 2025. "That was so bad," Ralph recalled. "The smell was awful, it was a putrid smell." A student who wished to remain anonymous said the strike had a huge impact, describing the smell as "really bad." He said safety is also a concern: "It's dangerous to walk around here at night – people are being approached by men and followed. It doesn't feel very safe." He indicated the bin strike would influence his vote, calling it "the biggest concern I've had with council services last year."
Residents' Anger
Catherine Zinetti, another resident, expressed embarrassment: "There's rats – they're bigger than the cats. Why should we have to pay petrol money to take the rubbish to the skip when we're paying our council tax? It's horrible, you sit here and all you can see are rats going across the road. We're meant to be the second biggest city in England, it's a disgrace – absolutely disgusting." She said she cannot have her grandchildren visit due to the street's condition, adding, "That hurts me to the core."
Henry Hutson, a student and member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, described the impact of industrial action as "catastrophic." He said streets were "littered with garbage," and compared the scene to the Winter of Discontent in 1978. "But even now the effects are still showing, my bins don't get taken every week, there's litter I've sort of memorised on my walk to and from school," he said. "It's disgusting and no student should have to live in this." On rats, he noted, "It's almost been kind of secondary though – we've got used to it."
Election Context
Thursday's elections will determine the council's leadership for the next four years. Labour, currently in control, faces opposition from Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, Reform UK, independents, and others. Council leader John Cotton recently announced an end to the bin strike was "within sight" after an agreement with Unite the union, but opposition councillors dismissed it as 'desperate' and 'pathetic.' Birmingham's financial crisis, exacerbated by the Oracle and equal pay issues, has been blamed on austerity measures by some Labour figures. Council member Majid Mahmood stated in 2024 that local councillors have worked to engage with the community and that waste management teams have conducted activities to encourage positive behaviours, adding that regulations on HMOs can play a part and that prosecutions will occur where evidence warrants.
