Watford landlord holds birthday bash for Enfield bins

Martin Attfield, who lives in Watford, baked a cake to mark the anniversary of the ongoing mess outside the house he owns in Green Lanes, Palmers Green, Enfield.

He slammed fly-tippers for illegally dumping rubbish around the bins in the alleyway behind his house.

And he criticised neighbouring Santander, waste collection firm Veolia and Enfield Council for not doing enough to clean up the mess.

“The whole thing has become an eyesore,” Mr Attfield said. “When the sun shines, the smell is awful. We have got children playing in the street, there are rats all the time and piles of rubbish rotting everywhere.

“It is absolutely terrible. Somebody fly-tipped a telegraph mast once, and it was three months before someone got rid of it.

“We thought we’d try a different approach. I got fed up and decided to bake a cake out of frustration.”

Landlord Martin Attfield says he baked a birthday cake for the abandoned bins

Mr Attfield said he was concerned about the health of his tenants and feared the tip might put would-be renters off the property.

The bins are in an alleyway, Devonshire Mews, running behind the house.

Mr Attfield said one bin had no branding, meaning nobody would empty it.

He claimed another bin was under a contract with Veolia that had now expired. But when the council told Veolia to clear the waste, he said the firm’s workers “started to empty the overfull bags onto the road behind the bin but then got bored and left without taking anything”.

An image of the dumped waste in Devonshire Mews

Fly-tipping on private land is the responsibility of the landowner to clear up. Devonshire Mews is unregistered land, meaning details of who owns it are not held by the Land Registry.

Mr Attfield said some of the rubbish was left on Santander’s property, and the council could do more to get the bank to clear up rubbish dumped on its land and install CCTV cameras to catch those responsible.

He said at times the council had been good but claimed its attempts to deal with the fly-tipping were “infrequent and too reactive” – despite his repeated complaints.

A Santander spokesperson said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The rubbish was not left in this location by Santander, and we are arranging for it to be removed as soon as possible and are investigating a long-term solution to the issue.”

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Devonshire Mews is unregistered land, and this presents difficulties for the council to address rubbish issues here, as there is no one responsible for it. Any rubbish removal from this land would be at the taxpayers’ expense.

Mr Attfield said the smell in the alleyway is awful

“We are making enquiries with Veolia about the removal/emptying of bins and the arrangements they have with the owners of the land on which they sit. In regard to other rubbish at this location, we will contact the landowners to request its removal and thereafter arrangements for the land’s proper maintenance.

“Enfield Council takes fly-tipping and rubbish dumping very seriously. We carry out regular inspections, and if we find evidence in rubbish, we try to pursue those responsible.

“We have in the past written to businesses and residents alike, raising awareness of their responsibilities for the proper disposal of rubbish. We have served fixed penalty notices in this area and in the last few months inspected businesses in the parade to ensure they are disposing of waste legally.”

Veolia was also approached for comment.

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