Eastbourne bin strike: Woman believes rubbish build-up has ‘devalued’ the area

An Eastbourne woman, who believes full bins have attracted rats and foxes, said she thinks a build-up of rubbish has ‘devalued’ the area.
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An Eastbourne woman, who believes full bins have attracted rats and foxes, said she thinks a build-up of rubbish has ‘devalued’ the area.

Keri Seeley, who lives in Faygate Road, said her flatmate Craig Murphy has seen the animals by their bins since the first refuse collection strike on December 31.

She said, “He saw a rat running across the bin area.

Eastbourne bins (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-221201-130532008Eastbourne bins (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-221201-130532008
Eastbourne bins (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-221201-130532008
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“I think it is disgusting, they [the council] could have given us a few extra bins.”

Mr Murphy added, “Foxes are in there every night.

“All the bin lids are open, fully open.”

Ms Seeley said she has contacted the council and is hoping to receive extra bins to help solve the problem.

Faygate Road in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-220501-175117008Faygate Road in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-220501-175117008
Faygate Road in Eastbourne (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-220501-175117008

She said, “We both can’t put anything in any of them. They are totally full.

“I phoned up the council and they said they cannot do anything.”

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The Faygate Road resident said she is hoping the council can come to an agreement to end the refuse collection strike.

She said, “This has really devalued the area. It never looked like this when I moved in seven years ago.

“Everyone is talking about it. It is a shame the area has been left to get this bad.

“A few extra bins would not hurt to put in an area like this.”

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Ms Seeley said she has no choice but to keep her rubbish indoors – but suggested that she would have to put her bin bags outside if they began to smell.

She said, “We shouldn’t have to do that. We shouldn’t have to be worrying about when the bin men will come next.”

A GMB spokesperson said, “The first thing is an absolute apology to both and all the residents in Eastbourne.”

The spokesperson said they never wanted residents to have to deal with this issue.

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They added, “We hope that the people our members serve can appreciate that they want to be back to work as soon as they can, but need their issues to be resolved.

“We are attempting to work with senior management and find a realistic resolve and we will do our best to act reasonably and fairly to achieve this.”

An Eastbourne Borough Council spokesperson said, “The industrial action called by the GMB Union has caused a build-up of household refuse, particularly in Hampden Park.

“However, our teams are catching up this week and will be collecting from Faygate Road tomorrow.”

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