FURY AS 'STUDENTS' FLY-TIP SOFAS AND DUMP MOUNTAINS OF RUBBISH

Students have turned a once proud residential neighbourhood in Birmingham into a landfill site by leaving couches, mattresses, and discarded furniture in the street. 

Selly Oak, now dubbed 'Smelly Oak' is an enclave for the city's university population made up of traditional terraced houses first built for local families but now divided into small flats.

The few locals left in the area to the south west of the city centre have likened the streets to no go zones saying it is 'impossible to walk down the pavements.'

Every June and July third year students about to leave for jobs or to return to their families throw out their unwanted possessions and leave them on the street.

For weeks on end the rubbish festers in the summer heat causing a stench.

Selly Oak local, Owen De Visser walks past the student accommodation each day and said: 'It just becomes a pit of rubbish - it’s sad to see.

'It really is a sight for sore eyes, it smells, attracts rodents and quickly becomes a hygiene issue.

'You can’t even walk down the pavement - there’s rubbish just spewing all over the place. There’s mattresses, bags of rubbish, food and all sorts.'

The district is home to more than 10,000 students during the academic turns.

Previously it was an industrial neighbourhood focusing on metal works, boat building and chemical plants.

Mr Visser pointed out a lot of the materials being left could be recycled- a process which usually many students are vocally passionate about raising and supporting.

He called for temporary recycling depots to be set up in June to get rid of the rubbish or removal vans to be laid on.

Another local named Tom Poole added: 'Students go to University for an education.

'It is about time some of the students leaving the mess were educated and perhaps signed some sort of agreement at the start of year that they will leave the place without mess and bags of their rubbish.'

Even one former Birmingham student called Lee said the situation was out on control and called on graduates to get rid of the rubbish properly.

'They don’t care because they won’t be living there tomorrow and that shows how they view their temporary community around them.

'With planning in advance, they could visit the local tip and clear their houses.

'The university should remind them of their obligation to local residents and the council should remind them that this is illegal fly tipping and they need to be reminded regularly it appears.'

In an effort to tackle the crisis some students set up stalls for their peers to donate items rather than abandon them on the street.

Called Junkbusters, the initiative has the support of the Guild of Students at Birmingham University.

Dean Turner, who is the Welfare and Community Officer explained because many student leave on the same day as each other there is a sudden concentration of waste.

She said: 'Junkbusters teams have therefore been working to help alleviate potential issues that come with large amounts of waste and provide an alternative method of disposing of unwanted items.'

While a University of Birmingham spokesman stressed, they are working with landlords, students and the local council to keep the streets safe and clean.

He added graduates are provided with information on how to remove rubbish.

Local Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet member for the Environment acknowledged there is a problem during June but added the majority of students try to get rid of their waste without dumping it on the street.

Cllr Mahmood said: 'As a council we are doing all we can to address this issue but there is a responsibility upon everyone - from long-standing residents to students to landlords - to play their part.'

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2024-07-03T11:07:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd