Lansdowne Estate: Rubbish piles up on Sheffield estate where bin chutes are too small

Bin bags are piling up on a Sheffield estate on a daily basis because of a breakdown in the relationship between residents and the council.

Sacks upon sacks of household waste are being dumped each day on every floor of the Lansdowne Estate flat blocks off Washington Road, where wheelie bins have been locked away, recycling bins have gone missing, and the bin chutes are too small for purpose.

Sheffield City Council says residents must start using smaller bin bags - but a local councillor, Maroof Raouf, says the local authority should work harder to reach a solution for residents.

Councillor Raouf said: "The bin chutes are not big enough, I think that's clear.

"It is iniquitous the way residents are being treated by by the council currently."

Last year, The Star reported how unusable communal bins, rat infestations and severe littering was plaguing the Lansdowne Estate, off Washington Road, Sharrow.

A major problem was how the sheds for communal bins had degraded and unfit for use, reducing them to open-topped heaps that spilled rubbish out to every corner of the estate.

A year later, these rotten bin sheds are gone and extensive baiting has culled rat numbers - but the council's solutions have led to new problems.

The communal bin sheds have been removed - and so have the wheelie bins. They are now locked in storage and are inaccessible except by using the flat blocks' bin chutes.

But, as residents are discovering, the bin bags produced by homes in the late 1960s when the estate was built were a lot smaller than today's. Forcing a modern full bin bag down the chute will only lead to a blockage.

Meanwhile, letters sent to residents at Christmastime said the estate's recycling bins would be taken away, 'deep-cleaned' and returned. But the reality is many of them have not been seen since.

With bin chutes they can't use, wheelie bins they can't reach, and no reliable recycling options, residents are frustratingly left with carrying their bin bags out of them homes - and dumping them in communal areas.

Now, scenes like this article's pictures are common. Bin bags are piling up by the chutes, and the council's environmental teams have to collect them anyway.

Sheffield City Council says it is asking all residents to use smaller bin bags and a "review" is underway.

But all three ward councillors for the area agree more needs to be done, with councillor Nighat Basharat (Lab) saying residents "felt not listened to and fed up of reporting problems".

Councillor Maroof Raouf (Green) told The Star: "The bin chutes aren't big enough for modern household waste, I think that's pretty clear. Residents are leaving rubbish by the chutes and it's a massive fire safety risk.

"You can't knock the building down and build bigger bin chutes, I understand that. But I think new bin chutes built going over the balconies and into the bins would alleviate a lot of the problems, those are the kind of solutions the council should look at.

"Unfortunately, the time scales we have been given to see any changes are ambiguous, and my real concern is that they will never be met."

Ward councillor Ibby Ullah (Labour and Co-Operative) agreed, saying: "While I fully understand and appreciate the intention behind reintroducing the old chute system, particularly in light of the vermin issue in the estate, the feedback I have received from residents thus far has not been entirely positive. Many residents believe that the old chutes are not the solution.

"I have requested the housing department to evaluate the success of this measure and perhaps explore alternative methods for waste disposal."

The city council said in a statement residents were advised with a leaflet through their doors in December 2023 in different languages, and "has waste support officers on site daily, carrying out door knocking and giving advice on how to dispose of waste correctly."

Cllr Douglas Johnson, Chair of the Housing Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: "The Neighbourhood Team is aware of the concerns raised by residents of Lansdowne Estate and are working with local councillors and local people to develop an action plan for the area.

"Repairs to bin room doors, the demolition of the old gas building waste management and fly-tipping have all been identified as priority areas for improvement, and I’d like to reassure residents who have highlighted issues, that we are working to tackle them."