Poets Close Estate, Rhydyfelin

The Poets Close Estate in Rhydyfelin, South Wales has had a recent history of being hard to let due to anti-social behaviour issues. These have included several incidents of arson and unfortunately even physical attacks on tenants. After a fire broke out in a stairwell following suspected arson, it became clear that certain elements of the scheme required an urgent upgrade to ensure tenant safety.

Fly-tipping had been a recurring issue with the insecure bin store areas, resulting in expensive removal costs in addition to encouraging further anti-social behaviour. Reports of arson, drug use, and physical abuse in the confines of the communal bin and drying areas meant that tenants were not using these facilities correctly due to serious safety concerns.

Working closely with the team at Newydd Housing Association behind the Poets Close Regeneration Scheme, metroSTOR provided expert design and specification advice on waste storage capacity requirements, security of external spaces and ways to increase tenant engagement in improving recycling rates.

Following the metroSTOR PBM Bin Store installations on the Poets Close Estate, only one case of fly-tipping has been reported, and this was successfully prosecuted by local authorities. The Regeneration Scheme has been successful in giving tenants a sense of pride in their homes and helping them take ownership of their neighbourhoods. There has also been a significant increase in residents recycling. The new bin store layout has prevented non-residents from using the area as a walk-through, with the metroSTOR waste and recycling storage systems having deterred misuse and reduced associated incidents of anti-social behaviour.

Rachel Honey-Jones, Head of Community Regeneration at Newydd Housing Association commented, ‘The tenants had told us that they did not feel safe on this estate. There was lots of social behaviour which was taking place, there was youth annoyance, there was fly tipping and drug use. Tenants not feeling safe in their homes just isn’t acceptable, so that’s something that we really wanted to change.’

‘The feedback that we’ve had from the residents since the regeneration project has taken place has been absolutely outstanding. Prior to the regeneration we had 16 out of 36 homes which were void and empty and unable to be tenanted, they are now completely tenanted. All residents now feel safe and secure in their homes and don’t have the fear or worry of fly tipping or any antisocial behaviour on the estate.’

‘The metroSTOR team was absolutely fantastic from day one, they came down to the site and they measured up and told me exactly what it was that I would need for this regeneration project. They were extremely friendly, professional and gave excellent advice. I would 100% recommend them as a company to use if you’re doing a regeneration project of this sort.’

For more information on our range of waste and recycling storage solutions click here.