SE23 Forum

I wonder whether anyone has experienced this problem before...

There is a huge pile of rubbish on Como Road which has been kindly dumped illegally. It has been reported to the council many times but so far, not a single piece of it has been removed. I found out today that the reason is that the rubbish is on private property, and therefore the council will not touch it (the rubbish has been dumped on the forecourt of a private garage that backs onto Como Road.)

I have not contacted the owner of the garage to see if they are aware of the rubbish (they dont use the garage it seems) and I doubt they would be interested in paying to have the rubbish removed. However, I have seen rats and foxes playing happily amongst it and as it is right beside the public pavements, it seems to be such a health hazard. Has anyone come up against this problem before who might be able to advise me how this mess can be cleared up without the owner of the garage having to stump up the cash?

Report the rat infestation to Lewisham Council. They have to take action to control rats.

We have successfully used the free Love Lewisham app several times to get the Lewisham cleaning team to clear flytipped rubbish of this nature. Like you,we came across the 'It's on private property' obstacle. Our solution? We shovelled the rubbish out onto the pavement, took a picture on the good old smartphone and posted it on the Love Lewisham app. They sorted it pronto.

Thats a good idea. The only problem is the scale of the problem. It is now a lot of heavy waste. Knowing my luck, I would also probably be caught moving it and accused of flytipping myself!

The Love Lewisham service seens to have gone downhill a bit. I've had emails from them telling me that an item has been cleared and then found the rubbish still there. I suspect their contractor is not doing the job but reporting it done. But I'll happily re-report the problem until it is fixed.

I complained to the council, more about the fact that the poor homeowner has to cover the cost of removing rubbish that was dumped illegally, but also because of the wider pest problem. They returned with a polite letter stating that the rubbish would be removed. Lets see if it happens!

I know only to well about this problem because I've just had to have rubbish removed at great expense because someone reported the rubbish to lewisham council who then came round and informed me that I had to remove it or be fined. They also told the owners of the house you're referring to but they obviously haven't done anything about it and once it builds up to that extent it just looks like a rubbish dump and so people add to it. The cost of moving that lot would be vast.

It's an infuriating problem. I can't see the back of the house so I have no idea if someone decides to dump their rubbish there until it's too late. Lewisham council basically said that I'm a victim of crime but unfortunately it's still the homeowners responsibility. Even if they caught the person who did it, the items are still on the homeowners properly and therefore still their problem.

I drive past it at least once a week now and if there's any item I remove it immediately. I cannot afford to pay for the disposal of other peoples waste. It doesn't help that the owners of the house you're referring to have let it build up to such an extent because it just attracts more rubbish dumpers and, as you say, vermin. I have no idea what to do about this issue. It just doesn't seem fair!