RESIDENTS living on a rundown council estate known as “Plastic City” say they are treated completely differently to their posh neighbours.
The estate – built in the 70s from pre-fabricated blocks – is actually called Townside Fields and was once touted as an exciting and modern place to live.
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But over the decades its appeal has faded, with residents saying it has become blighted by drug dealers and addicts while their homes have fallen into disrepair.
Townside Fields is just a stone’s throw from the bustling town centre of Bury, in Greater Manchester, with its historic and award-winning market and attractive shopping centre with more than 50 stores, a cinema, and restaurants and bars.
But it remains hidden from view, sunken in a pit of land and secluded from nearby neighbourhoods by the sort of high walls used to build prisons.
And just like prisoners, many on the estate dream of getting out and living a better life.
But instead they face up to the daily realities of drug-use, anti-social behaviour and rubbish.
In contrast, they claim, residents on tree-lined roads less than half a mile away, where houses fetch between £200,000 and £300,000, have little to grumble about.
Mum Petra Cholodowski, 21, said: “It’s horrible.
“The council don’t make any improvements and there are rats running all around.
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“Five minutes walk away, you can see where money has been spent.
“But we’ve been forgotten about for years.
“No-one even knows where the estate is.”
Karen Mee, 54, said she’s lived on the estate for 22 years and it’s become “neglected” and “invisible”.
“The council just don’t care about us,” she said.
“I think they’ve decided the estate costs too much to repair.
“I’ve had damp and my flooring has been took up and asbestos tiles taken out.
The council just don’t care about us
Resident Karen Mee
“I had to put a claim in because I lost all my new carpets.”
One woman said: “The estate is dirty and plagued by alkies (alcoholics} and drug-addicts.
“The council don’t even fix the street lights.
“I phoned up before Christmas and I’m still waiting for them to do be done, and I don’t think the street cleaners even come here.
She added: “Rubbish gets dumped all the time.
“I’m ashamed to live down here and don’t let my friends come to see me.
“I go to them.”
Hassan Ahmed and his wife Fatima said they felt “intimated” because their home faces on to an area of the estate frequently visited by night-time drug dealers.
Fatima, 49, said: “You can smell the drugs coming through out windows sometime.
“And there are always people hanging around making noise. It can get really annoying.
“Other times, people arrive in cars and just dump rubbish.
“It’s become a very bad area to live.”
Hassan, 63, added: “Sometimes, people just stand and hang around right outside our front door.
“It’s not good.”
Andrea Robinson, 53, only moved into the estate in July but is already looking to move out after waiting for repairs to be carried out on her home.
“There was a massive leak of rainwater into my living room and all the floor had to be ripped up.
The council don’t make any improvements and there are rats running all around
Mum Petria Cholodowski
“My daughter has tried chasing the council but it’s still not been repaired. They just don’t care.
“I can’t live like this any more.”
One man, who didn’t wish to be named, said he’d lived on the estate for 40 years, and it’s “become worse and worse” and now resembled a “rubbish tip”.
“They council have just forgotten us,” he said.
“The people who live in the posher houses nearby have always got a better deal.”
A spokesperson for Six Town Housing, which manages the estate on behalf of Bury Council, said: “Six Town Housing work closely with Greater Manchester Police to ensure that communities are safe places to live in, and will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to crime.
“Teams from Six Town are regularly in the area, and haven’t received any complaints regarding anti-social behaviour.”
She added: “It is important to us to fully understand any concerns that the local residents have and we have arranged to have a community walkabout to further engage with the community on 17 April.”
GMP have been contacted for comment.
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