Fuming neighbours have told of their life in a "filthy" Nottingham estate dominated by dust and rubbish. Families living next to the Colson waste disposal site on Bulwell Lane, in Basford, described their day to day life as a "nightmare" where cars and the windows of their homes "get dirty everyday".
Concerns were raised after a "significant fire" broke out on the site. Eight crews were called to the blaze in the early hours of Monday (July 25).
The fire was deemed to be accidental. Councillor for Basford Linda Woodings shared her concerns after the incident. She said: "I think they have improved the site since the prosecution a few years ago, they concreted the yard and they put in a sprinkler system around the wall because the criticism from a few years ago was that it was causing pollution and dust near a primary school.
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"But I was really concerned when I went past the site a few weeks ago and saw a huge pile of aggregates way over the height of the wall, and a huge pile of rubbish as well. There is a lot of unhappiness about it."
She said that a number of neighbours have complained about pollution, rubbish and dust. There are also concerns about the disruption to traffic caused by lorries that enter and leave the site.
Valerie Hargreaves, who lives close to the site on Bulwell Lane, said: "It is disgusting. We are supposed to get our windows cleaned by Colson and they never did. The area is so filthy and always dusty. It is a nightmare."
The 75-year-old added: "The road gets blocked all the time because of the lorries. Everyone hates it."
Katherine Prince, also a resident on the road, added: "You can feel the dust in the air, it is sometimes difficult to breathe. Nothing is being done about it and it is dangerous."
The 46 year old added: "There is a school nearby and I just think it is dangerous. Every time I walk past it there is so much rubbish and it smells really bad. It is a real nuisance."
Lynne Anderson, 58, echoed the concerns, adding: "I do not think it is good for the roads either because the lorries are very heavy. The area gets filthy and it is always dusty."
Svetlana Gumenyuk, a midwife at the City Hospital, said her windows get covered in dust, which also gets into her home. The 48 year old voiced her anger and said: "This area was quiet and okay when I moved in 19 years ago.
"Now it is just really filthy and smelly. The dust gets into my house and it is hard to breathe.
"You just open the windows that get covered in dust and you can feel it in the air. It is a nightmare.
"My husband drives and his car gets dusty very quickly. And there are always queues to get through this road because of the lorries."
Darren MacKenzie, Basford manager at Colson, said the windows of the residential homes on Bulwell Lane "get cleaned every week". He added: "I can prove it with receipts."
He went on and said: "We are being regulated by the Environment Agency. We had an inspection after the fire so they came in, had a look at the site and they are happy with everything."
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We are aware of environmental concerns following a fire at a regulated waste management site in Bulwell, Nottingham. We have visited the site since the fire and found that the operator, Colson Transport Limited, is removing the waste and have repaired the dust suppression system and site netting which were damaged in the fire.
“We want to reassure residents we are enforcing the operator’s environmental permit. If residents have further concerns they should call our 24/7 hotline on 0800-80-70-60.”
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