A homeowner in a residential community has slammed the council for their ‘nonsensical’ decision to move a bin hub outside of her home.
Fiona Todd stays on a ground floor flat in Roseburn Gardens and says that she has been forced to complain to Edinburgh City Council after she found vermin in her home following the moving of the bins.
The moving of the communal hub took place earlier this year in January and Fiona says that the move makes no sense. She says that they used to be situated outside of the non-residential Masonic lodge which is located just two to three metres adjacent to where they have been currently placed.
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Fiona says that the stench from the rubbish means that at times she is unable to open her windows and that she spotted a mouse in her home shortly after the bins appeared outside of her home. She added that the neighbour below her has had the natural light to his flat blocked due to the placement of the hub and that her own view out of her window has also been ruined.
“About a month ago the council installed a bin hub in front of our flat. They say that they have had to do this to make it accessible to people on Roseburn Terrace but the current location is literally two to three metres away from where it was before”, she said.
“It was outside of a non-residential space. They did not consult me about this and now we have eight bins right outside our front door, some of which are food bins.
“I have complained to the council about this and have launched a complaint but their response does not make sense. Every point that they have raised I have been able to refute.
“I saw a mouse in my house which is a result of these bins as we have never had anything like this happen before. Being a ground floor flat their position also ruins our view.
“The smell is very bad and I’m concerned that when it comes to summer the stench will be unbearable. We have a neighbour below us who has had the light going into his windows completely blocked.
“I personally do not understand why they have been moved in the first place. The person who has made this decision has not realised the impact they have had on residents.
“Before they were not impacting anyone's view, light or smell. They have taken up an old loading bay which means that lorries are now blocking the street which is making it dangerous for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
“Despite residents saying the move does not make sense the council do not seem interested in listening to us.”
Email correspondence which shows Fiona’s complaints being assessed by the council was shared with Edinburgh Live. The council claimed that the way the bins are designed means that residents should not be impacted by the smell and that their current position should decrease the amount of vermin in the street.
They doubled down on saying that the bins had to be placed at the junction of Roseburn Gardens to make them accessible in a timely manner for those staying on Roseburn Terrace. Again Fiona argued against this and said that their previous site was adjacent to where they are currently placed.
The council admitted that Fiona had not been consulted but claimed that Fiona and her neighbours' windows would have been blocked by lorries unloading at the previous bay. She says that unloading lorries would only be in place for 30 minutes and not the constant eyesore that the bin hubs create at present.
The council said that when the site for the bins was decided they took into consideration the safety of "people recycling, pedestrians and drivers” and that it did “not block lines of sight or access.” Fiona was dumbfounded by this response and has shared images that she says shows how precarious the street can become now that lorries have to offload out-with the old bay.
Councillor Scott Arthur, environment convener said: “The Council has introduced new communal bin hubs in this street as part of our citywide communal bin review.
“The new hubs make waste collections more efficient and have improved the service for residents as they provide increased capacity and a more reliable and frequent service.
“We’re speaking to the resident about reasons for the location of the hub in this case including safety, avoiding pavement clutter and making sure the hubs are in easy walking distance for those using them.
“The bins are also all well sealed and collected more frequently than previously.”
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