A HOMEOWNER is at his wits end after a 50ft SHIPPING CONTAINER was dumped in front of his house – and the council couldn’t care less.
Robert Crossley, from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, has pleaded with Bury Council to remove the metal monstrosity which is only “15 feet” from his back gate.
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The container – which the former bus driver estimates is 50ft long and 12ft high – first appeared in July 2019 on the site of a bungalow.
Desperate Robert, 70, said: “Three years I have been complaining to the council about it and the best suggestion they can come up with is to paint it.
“It shouldn’t be there. It’s is unsightly and is devaluing the area and our properties.
“It needs shifting but the council won’t do anything about it, I don’t know what they are frightened of.
“Who wants to see that every time they open their curtains?”
When the owner of the property died, their relatives sold the land for £10,000 to a catering company who then dumped the container in the front garden.
The bungalow is now rented out and the caterers reportedly use the container to store chairs and other equipment.
The pensioner says he was told the container would remain only for a “short period” while building work took place at the Alma Street address.
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But the massive hunk of metal is still there and is now being used as a fly-tipping site for fridges, chairs, and other grotty waste.
He added: “The wagon came with the crane and dumped it there, and it’s been there ever since.
“You come out of your door and that’s what your faced with, its only 15ft away from my back gate.”
Poor Robert now fears he will struggle to sell his house because it’s “the first thing anybody’s going to see”.
We just usually close the curtains but it’s coming to summer time so it might start to annoy me that it is there
Bungalow resident
The man who rents the bungalow behind the container said: “I haven’t lived here long and it’s been winter so I’ve not really noticed it.
“We just usually close the curtains but it’s coming to summer time so it might start to annoy me that it is there.
“It would be better if it was moved.”
A Bury Council spokesman told The Bolton News the planning department are dealing with the problem.
And they confirmed that the container “does not have a valid planning application to be there” and the local authority will be “serving a notice on the owner to have it removed”.
Despite this the spokesman added that it may only act on environmental health concerns when a statutory nuisance is being caused by the waste.
This is waste that poses a public health hazard such as vermin, flies or odour.
The council cannot deal with waste that is merely unsightly, such as rubble or broken household items, the spokesman stressed.
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