An “absolutely dreadful” rubbish tip in Bromborough is finally being cleared after rats were spotted in the area.
Jeremy Poupard, the Deputy Quality Manager for Marine Specialised Technology Group (MST), said it has had a massive impact on his business.
He said: “To start with, it was absolutely dreadful,” adding “People would go out to their cars and see rats coming through the fence in quite large numbers.”
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The rubbish sits on land just off Magazine Lane on Riverbank Road. It was previously managed by a waste management company, which went into voluntary liquidation in 2021.
The Environment Agency said they were working with the current landowners to clear the waste and working with Wirral Council officers to ensure this is done.
In April 2022, MST moved next door where the company built ships and boats, including for the Navy meaning Government officials often visit the site.
He said: “The biggest issue is that we have lots of customers on the site. We have people from the Ministry of Defence. I used to say to them that you can’t miss us as we are right next to the rubbish tip.”
Mr Poupard said that once his wife refused to get out of the car when picking him up because “there were about five or six rats running around the car park. It isn’t what you would expect at work.”
When MST first moved next door, Mr Poupard said he started to make enquiries. He said: “I couldn’t understand how long it has been there. We got rid of close to 300 tonnes of rubbish from our site but we definitely had some bits coming across from next door.”
He said fly tipping was a big issue with people leaving waste outside their gate and was worried about antisocial behaviour both on the site and in the area.
Mr Poupard began contacting both the Environmental Agency and Wirral Council. He was concerned about the environmental impacts and whether any assessments were done on the site.
He said they see a lot of wildlife on their land: “Birds nest at the end of our wall, green plover, shell ducks nest on our land and plenty of wading birds. We even have foxes too.”
Mr Poupard told The Echo he had been assured the waste would be cleared by February 2023 but believes this is ambitious. However he said that since work has begun to clear the site, “it is now a lot better.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We are working with the landowners of a site in Bromborough to offer advice and guidance around their legal duty to clear their land of waste.
“Waste operators are responsible for keeping their sites within permitted levels and clearing the land if necessary. If the waste operator ceases operations, then the landowner becomes responsible for removing waste.
“Members of the public can report waste crime to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or anonymously to Crimestoppers.”
A Wirral Council spokesperson said: "The site is private land and not a council tip or authorised in any way by Wirral Council.
"We understand it is currently subject to enforcement action by the Environment Agency with whom council officers are working closely.
“We are aware of the understandable concerns the community, local businesses and local elected members have raised. We would urge anyone noticing any further issues there to contact the Environment Agency.”
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