Residents of a narrow street say their recycling bags are regularly left uncollected leaving piles of rubbish bags littering their street. People on Mary Street in Neath say they once went four weeks without a collection.
Neath Port Talbot council blamed parked cars along the narrow street blocking access and said residents may be asked to take their rubbish to the end of the street for collection in future.
Tracey Nicol, 52, and neighbour Trudi Feiven, 49, have both lived on Mary Street for 16 years and have never had any issues with their bins being collected until last year. Now they say their regular recycling driver will not drive down their road as it is too narrow, despite their non-recyclable waste being collected by other drivers without any issues.
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When they put their recycling out on the pavement on a Thursday morning, they do not know whether it will have been collected when they return in the afternoon. When the bins are left, Trudi said residents are told to take them back indoors if they have not been collected by the following day. For some residents, this means carrying their often wet and dirty bins back through their home.
If residents choose to leave it out, they say the street looks untidy as bags start to pile up. "We went for four weeks without getting our bins collected last Christmas," said Tracey. "I suffer with anxiety anyway but the street is such a mess. I'm so embarrassed that I wouldn't want relatives to stay."
Neighbour Trudi added that the problem is an added stress to the already busy lives of residents.
"It's frustrating- especially working full-time. A lot of us have things going on at home already. It's something you shouldn't have to stress about as you've paid for it. I understand it's a narrow street but it's not my fault," she said.
An 83 year-old resident of Mary Street was told by a recycling driver to take the bins to the bottom of the street for them to pick up, according to neighbour Tracey. Tracey said her elderly neighbours are unable to bring bins in and out all of the time and the street is getting piled up with recycling, she said the residents try and help each other out but not everyone has the time.
Some residents have said the bins are affecting their wellbeing as the street is a "mess" and customers of the nearby Subway put their rubbish in bins on Mary Street when they are left out waiting to be collected. Last year, Tracey started a petition on the issue which received 48 signatures. Tracey sent it to the local council and the response said the issue would be fixed but nothing was done, she claims.
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Tracey said recycling drivers have told residents to park their cars or vans on the pavement on a Thursday but she said this causes accessibility issues for children, elderly people and disabled people living on the road as they cannot access the pavement. Tracey added that herself and other residents have sent many emails to the council and usually do not hear back.
A spokesperson for Neath Port Talbot council said the situation at Mary Street is very difficult as the road is so narrow and this is made more difficult by the number or cars parked on both sides of the road which has increased with more people working from home. The spokesperson added that the council's vehicles are regularly blocked due depending on what vehicles are parked and how they have been parked there.
The spokesperson added: "The recycling vehicles used are some of the smallest within the recycling fleet. As with all locations, if crews are unable to gain access to a street at the time of their initial visit they will attempt again later in the day, and normally, also on the next day.
“Our drivers have at times requested that residents move their vehicles on collection day to enable the vehicles to pass so collections can be made, but in general the requests have not found favour.
“As the problem is persisting, the team might need to consider requiring all residents to present their rubbish and waste materials at the end of the street for collection, and anyone physically unable to do so would need to apply for the council’s assisted collection service.”
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