A pensioner says he dropped off his rubbish at friends’ homes after no bins had been collected for more than three months.
Rene Pollak, who lives in Throwley near Faversham, is furious because he hasn’t seen the binmen turn up at his door since mid-March, and he’s had to pick up more and more rubbish.
The 73-year-old says he has had to take weeks-old rubbish to the dump and ask friends to take it home in an attempt to tackle the problem, which has led to rats taking up residence in his garage.
And now Mr Pollak is demanding a refund of his council tax – and he says he refuses to pay more to Swale Borough Council until this is done weekly.
It is one of a number of cases of failed waste collections around Swale, Maidstone and Ashford after Suez and the MidKent Waste Partnership signed a £152m contract, which came into effect on March 25.
“I didn’t actually collect anything in the two weeks leading up to the end of Biffa’s contract,” the retired agriculturalist said.
“Then we had the general transition that was supposed to happen after Easter in March, but since then I haven’t seen a Suez truck.
“Disobediently, I dragged increasingly large piles of composting waste to the gate every week, put it outside, and on Saturday or Sunday I brought it back inside.
“It attracted rats, I used my car to take it to the dump – it’s a very old car and I’m using it to perform a service that I’m already paying for.
“After that I used up my friendships because I was inviting people over for pizza and Chinese food and the last thing I said to them was, ‘No one can leave here without filling their car with my rubbish’.
“This initially resulted in ironic smiles, but I really stretched my friendships to the limit by stuffing their boots full of all that stinking stuff for them to take away and throw in the bin.
“I no longer have a waste problem, but that is because I have had a huge renovation, which has cost me a lot both emotionally and financially, and which also comes with a bill that I build up week after week for a service that I am not receiving.”
Before the reductions, which are applied because Mr Pollak lives alone following the death of his wife, the property is subject to council tax of £3,643.40 per year.
Although only a small proportion of this will be used to fund waste collection, he estimates he is currently paying £1 a day for a service he has not received for three and a half months.
“I’m going to stop paying my taxes. I don’t see a way to get them to pay attention…”
And tired of having to report that taxes were not being collected over the phone or online, Mr. Pollak informed the council that he no longer had to pay the taxes.
“I sent them a letter saying I’m not going to pay my taxes anymore. I don’t see any way to notify them otherwise,” he said.
“They will probably come back and say they are going to fine me, but I am not only worried about myself, but also about all my neighbours.
“Swale Borough Council says it is really concerned about flytipping. Well, what does it expect some people to do if their litter pile keeps growing?”
Mr Pollak is not the first person from Faversham to make this grand gesture. Malachi and Sue Doyle threatened to stop payments to Swale Borough Council (SBC) for their Band D home in April, before the council intervened.
Hundreds, if not thousands of people are inconvenienced by the fact that their car is collected less and less frequently in their neighbourhood.
SBC was asked for comment on Thursday and Monday, but had not responded by time of publication.