Overflowing bin stores and continuing parking problems highlight something 'very wrong' at Liverpool Council, according to one elected member.
Former Labour cabinet member, Cllr Steve Munby, has hit out at the council for repeatedly failing to deal with a growing problem in the Baltic Triangle area on the edge of the city centre. Cllr Munby represents the Riverside council ward.
He said back in January he first raised with the council complaints and concerns from residents living in the Norfolk Street area of the Baltic about a major parking problem. Locals said the road was being completely blocked by parked cars. Council officers visited the area to hand out fines, but the wider issue was that parking bays had faded and needed repainting and signage installed.
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He said the issues continued and residents then got in touch to share grim images of overflowing bin stores at their flat block. Bins were not being collected because the illegally parked cars meant waste collectors couldn't get down the street.
Frustrated at not getting responses from officers, Cllr Munby raised the issue at a meeting of the full city council in May. He said he was then contacted by chief executive Tony Reeves asking for more information.
There appeared to be some confusion about what parking orders were already in place in Norfolk Street, with senior officers suggesting a Traffic Regulation Order - which was already in use - needed to be introduced.
Six months since those first complaints were raised about Norfolk Street, the council is now updating the traffic order in the area in the hope of tackling the problem. But just this week Cllr Munby was contacted by another Norfolk Street resident with pictures of overflowing bins.
In the email, the resident states: "Bins have been overflowing for the whole week and as you can see from the pictures attached, it is no longer possible to access the bin store as a wall of bags is hindering access and bags have started lying inside the building.
"The situation is totally unacceptable and very concerning. Apart from the serious lack of hygiene practices, there are bags of waste material in the building and this is exposing the building and the residents to a higher risk of fire. Bags are blocking doors of a possible exit in case of emergencies and it is a matter of days and they will start appearing in the corridor leading to stairs and lifts."
Responding to the email, Wesley Hartless from the council's City Centre and environmental services team suggested cars may need to be towed from the area. An internal email seen by the ECHO reads: "Looks like we need to start towing cars asap?"
Commenting on the whole saga, Cllr Munby took aim at the senior officers and the overall running of the council. He said: “These emails and pictures lift the lid on something very wrong in the Council. It would be easy, but wrong to pin the blame for this on a relatively junior officer. Easy and convenient but wrong.
"The script we’re being fed by (inspector) Max Caller, the Chief Executive and the commissioners at is that everything in the council is dysfunctional and that new procedures are being put in place to prevent this. It doesn’t exactly motivate our staff, it’s untrue and leading us down a rabbit hole."
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said the issue has now been addressed, adding: "“We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused to residents. The new signage and marking on Norfolk Street have been applied and the TRO has been updated and is in now operation. An internal review is now underway to understand what has happened to ensure this kind of delay doesn’t occur again.”
