Hygiene concerns over Sheffield tower block bin chutes being sealed up
A Sheffield council housing campaigner says that the bin chutes in his tower block have finally been cleaned out for the first time in 62 years but chutes at other blocks are being sealed up without cleaning.
A long-term tenant of the Robertshaw block in Netherthorpe, Peter MacLoughlin wrote to Sheffield City Council leader and Walkley ward councillor Tom Hunt to thank him for the work being done before the chutes are closed.
He wrote: “On behalf of Robertshaw block tenants and leaseholders I would like to thank you for lending your support into getting our bin chutes finally cleaned that will hopefully help to reduce flies, insects and persistent stenches emanating from our bin chutes.”
He asked when the other three blocks in Netherthorpe would be cleaned, as well as blocks across the city.
Mr MacLoughlin said: “The bin chutes have never been cleaned at all since the flats were built in 1962. They’ve never been cleaned or maintained.”
He said he had been alarmed to hear from a senior council housing officer that Hanover House in Broomhall and Stannington Deer Park that have been refurbished have had the bin chutes sealed up without being cleaned out first.
“It’s not good enough,” said Mr MacLoughlin. “They should have been cleaned out first.”
Filth
“Tenants can’t use them any longer. Sealing them up doesn’t guarantee what happens with all that filth that has been building up for years, with insects and other rubbish.
“It’s just to save pennies – it’s not a major cost but it’s a cost.”
Mr MacLoughlin said that there needs to be a specialist management team in the council housing department who understand all the issues unique to high-rise homes that are often quite complex. He likened council actions to simply fighting a fire without understanding what caused it in the first place.
Sheffield City Council told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the bin chutes within the tower blocks at Hanover and Stannington were closed as part of a wide-ranging fire safety upgrade programme for all tower blocks following the Grenfell tragedy in London in 2017.
Following consultation with residents, new outside bins were put at the bottom of each tower block and the cleaning of the bin chute at Robertshaw was a pilot project, which will be evaluated and, if appropriate, rolled out to all other tower blocks in the city prior to the chutes being closed.
A spokesperson also said a tower block upgrade programme for the remaining 20 tower blocks across the city will start in 2025 with bin chute closures as part of the programme.