MORE of Oxford’s grot spots have been highlighted by Oxford Mail readers as the city council insists it will investigate every case.
We launched a campaign to tackle grot spots in the city after Nadia Vollenhoven, 29, was fined in April for failing to comply with an order to remove rubbish dumped outside her former home in Sunnymead.
Georgina Alder, from Cowley, contacted us about a property with a long-standing problem in Hollow Way.
She said: “It’s a front of a house and they have obviously had a new bathroom put in and the old bathroom has been dumped in the garden.
“It has been there for weeks – it’s got to be four or five weeks. The front gate has been taken off or blown down and it has just been thrown at the side of the house.
“It’s a letting house and the bloke who owns it is a local businessman, who must walk past it regularly, but does nothing about it.
“I’ve asked the landlord on many occasions to do something about it.
“ I’ve taken him out and showed him and he has done something about it eventually, but not this time.
“When it was owned by the people before it used to be very well kept.”
Mrs Alder also criticised the state of the area by the recycling bins at the entrance to the Oxford Retail Park, in Cowley. She said: “It’s an absolute disgrace.
“I used to walk with my grand- children down there and I’ve seen rats running across our paths. It’s in a terrible state.”
Mick Turner, of Dene Road, Headington, pointed us in the direction of a house in nearby Benson Road.
He said: “There’s a skip in the garden which has been there for a long, long time. It must be one of the grottiest places in the city.”
Another Cowley resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Havelock Road, in Cowley, has a property which has been in a horrendous state for over two years.
“Extensions were being built at the property, but abandoned part way through.
“Meantime, neighbours such as myself are having to put up with the most awful front garden imaginable, full of builders’ rubble above the height of the wall, although that is now also down. Piles of breeze blocks have recently collapsed and the risk of vandals using the bricks, etcetera, to cause damage is high.”
A city council spokesman said: “We’re grateful to Oxford Mail readers for alerting us to these grot spots.
“All the reports have been passed on to our enforcement and cleansing teams for investigation.
“Following our investigations, we will take appropriate action, based on what we find.”
To report grot spots to the council, call 01865 252900 or use the online contact form at oxford.gov.uk tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk Is there a grot spot in your area? Let us know. Call Thom Airs on 01865 425505 or email him at the address above.
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