Silva Homes garages where fly-tipping is a 'nightmare'

Brian Ackroyd of Hart Close in Bracknell says mostly-vacant garages behind his street have become a target for anti-social behaviour. The area off Merryhill Road is owned by housing association Silva Homes, which wants to demolish the garages for a new housing development.

Mr Ackroyd told the News: “We’ve had a nightmare with people fly-tipping there. There was a van there the other day and when it left there was a load of rubbish there the size of a small car.”

Mr Ackroyd contacted Bracknell Forest Council after that incident on March 27, but was told Silva Home was responsible for clearing it up.

READ MORE: Anger at Silva Homes after garages blocked by scaffolding

He added he felt contacting Silva Homes would be ‘a waste of time’ because of the company’s plans to demolish the garages. But Silva Homes says it shares neighbours’ frustrations over fly-tipping at the site and that it acts quickly to clear up rubbish.

Silva Homes spokesperson Tom Mason told the News: “We share our customers’ frustrations about the fly-tipping at Merryhill Road garages and believe that everyone has the right to live in a safe and clean community.

“We have removed the rubbish and will continue to work closely with our communities to manage any reports of fly-tipping.”

Silva Homes added that it had received two reports of fly-tipping at the garages over the past year and that it cleared the rubbish promptly both times.

Garages on Merryhill Road owned by Silva Homes (Image: Google)

An application for permission to demolish the garages and replace them with 11 homes is currently being considered by Bracknell Forest Council. Some neighbours fear that the plans could make parking problems worse.

Mr Ackroyd said: “The parking here is absolutely chaotic. If they put more houses in there it’s going to be even worse.

“These houses were built in the 1950s when you had one car per house. Now the kids aren’t leaving home because it’s too expensive and it’s four cars to a house.”

He added: “It would make sense to tidy the garages up and offer them to residents.”

READ MORE: Bracknell streets to get new parking spaces – find out if yours is on the list

Silva Homes said ten of the 40 garages at Merryhill Road are currently being rented, and their occupants would be helped to find others nearby if the demolition plan is approved. Mr Mason also said the new homes would include 38 parking spaces, 14 of them for existing users.

He said: “Should our planning application on Merryhill Road be successful, we will provide 11 new, high-quality, sustainable family homes, of which four will be affordable, each with two parking spaces, which is in line with Bracknell Forest Council’s policy.

“The proposed development plan has a total of 38 parking bays, of which 14 are for existing users.”

Silva Homes added it is ‘committed to building new homes where they are desperately needed.’ It said that the National Housing Federation has found Bracknell’s social housing waiting list could take almost six years to clear.