TRADERS in Chester have hit out over a patch of land they say has become a dumpsite, saying: “They’re ignoring our complaints.”
The business owners, in Brook Street, say fly-tipping is just one of the problems plaguing the council-owned land which runs alongside several shops in the area.
In addition to discarded rubbish, the grass has become overgrown and bags of waste have led to an infestation of rats.
They have continuously flagged up their concerns to council managers but they feel like most of their complaints have been ignored.
There have been a “few times” environment teams have come out to clean the site, but they claim it has never been kept up.
Sue Mackin, who runs Myra’s Kitchen in Brook Street, says the ongoing problem is making it very difficult to live and work in the area.
She has made numerous complaints to the Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWaC), and had been told the property would be kept up.
Sue, who lives above her shop, said she can no longer tolerate the mess and is demanding council leaders keep their word.
She said: “I have been fighting the council for years.
“They usually come back at me and tell me it will cost too much money.
“But they have all this money to widen the pavement in Brook Street and do other things in Chester, so why can’t they find money to keep this up?
“This is a disgrace and it’s also a fire hazard.”
She added: “I am fed up with looking at the mess day in and day out.
“People treat the site as a dumping ground and it’s horrible.”
Sue said CWaC leaders had usually been slow in responding to problems concerning residents of Brook Street over the years.
She said: “After seven years they finally put in a fire escape, which we had long campaigned for - and now this.
“The difference with me is that I also live here and I have to put up with it day after day.”
A back entrance had been added two years ago so that council staff could access the land to maintain it.
“They came in once and dug part of it up and they did not even move it because they said it would be costly,” she said.
“It was a mountain of mud. There was old food and bin bags. It is a disgrace.”
Mike Moran, who owns a record shop next door called Grey and Pink, said: “The council has come before and cleaned it up, but they do not keep it up.
“It gets a bit derelict and it does tend to get a bit of a mess.
“It’s more than just rubbish being put there. There are definitely rats running up and down the street whenever bags of rubbish are left outside for collection. It just looks a mess.”
However, CWaC spokesman Ian Callister said they were currently investigating a complaint involving dumping waste in Brook Street, but it did not involve the patch of land owned by the council.
He said: “We are currently investigating a complaint from this lady about a neighbouring business dumping waste on their own land.”