One resident in Cardiff has told CJS News she is “disgusted” at the state of the pavements around her house as piles of bin bags lie uncollected in the street.
It comes as Cardiff Council has opened a consultation which could see further cuts to bin collections in an attempt to “boost recycling waste”.
However, in some areas of Roath, many recycling bags appear to be left in the pavement, with residents claiming some have not been collected since Christmas.
Ben Fuller, a 24-year-old from Roath, said: “I’m tired of it to be honest and half the time I feel quite nauseous walking around Cardiff. We moved here a couple of months ago, even then we thought that the place is filthy and since then it’s only gotten worse.”
He added: “As someone who lives in Cardiff it’s disheartening to see the state of the Capital city, a major UK city falling into such waste.”
Lydia Hanahoe, who lives close by, told CJS: “The recycling bins haven’t been taken in six weeks. The state of the street is disgusting it has happened for a lot of the houses in our street.”
She continued: ” Nothing’s been taken out. It’s not nice when there’s kids going around the area. It’s quite frankly unhygienic.”
In response to the piles of rubbish in Roath, Cardiff Council said: “There should be no black bags on the street, so an enforcement officer will be able to search through those to see where the waste has come from and take the appropriate action against the people that have dumped them.”
The complaints come after delays in bin collections following long-running industrial action by council bin workers in a dispute over alleged bullying and conditions.
It said several factors including inflation, demand pressures, and pay increases for the workforce including teachers and carers, means the council’s budget for delivering day-to-day services is expected to cost £56m.
Cabinet Member for Finance Cllr Chris Weaver warned there are some “really tough choices ahead.”
Cardiff Council has also proposed making cuts to collection and refuse services in its 2024-2025 budget consultation which include collecting black bin waste once every three weeks instead of every fortnight.
“Services people rely on and have come to expect will have to change or go, and charges will have to increase if we are to maintain many others.”
A petition was launched following the proposals which has so far had more than 1,000 signatures.
Cardiff Liberal Democrats leader, Cllr. Rodney Berman said: “It’s clear that many residents are appalled that the council is considering so many drastic cuts to waste and cleansing services in Cardiff. There are huge fears our city could become much dirtier than it is at present, and that fly-tipping will significantly increase if these cuts go ahead.”
The Lib-Dems environment spokesman, Cllr. Ashely Wood added that: “The expected impact will be quite minimal… the council only thinks it will increase the city’s recycling rate by just over 1%. It’s clear that the administration is therefore proposing this change more as a cost-cutting measure.”
The council has urged the public to take part in the budget consultation which it said will be the “most important one we have ever done” as it looks to find £30.5m to balance the books amidst what it calls a “public sector funding crisis.”
The council is due to vote on the full proposals on 7th of March 2024.