RESIDENTS on the rat-plagued Gorse Ride estate have claimed they are being punished for being poor.
Locals say huge rodents the size of cats have burrowed into house walls, live in their attics and attack family pets.
The vermin scurry along alleyways during the day and parents fear children could be bitten or catch deadly Weil’s disease from infected rats’ urine.
Residents have called a public meeting later this month in a bid to force Wokingham Borough Council to get rid of the pests. They claim the council has ignored their fears telling locals to pay £80 plus for pest control themselves.
Hayley Rentall-Cripps who lives in one of the worst affected areas in Orbit Close fumed: “People on the estate cannot afford this sort of money.
“Many are struggling to get by on minimum wage or benefits. It costs around £80 for one visit by pest control and people would need at least two visits. It’s like people are being punished for being poor.”
Janet Robertson, a great-grandmother who stays in nearby Whittle Close said the borough have treated the Finchampstead estate as ‘”forgotten territory.”
“As long as they can collect the council tax, that’s all that matters to them,” she said.
“They don’t care about the people. I was having breakfast at eight o’clock last week when I saw what I thought was a cat at my window.
“When I looked closer, I realised it was a rat. It was huge, just sitting there watching me. This is what people across the estate have to put up with all the time.
“We can’t afford £80 for someone to come out and then pay for extra visits. I feel so sorry for mums who can’t allow their children to crawl on the floor in their own homes because rats get through the walls and attic and could attack the child or they might catch a disease.”
The two women have organised a meeting later this month and have invited residents to come and report their own rat concerns. Among the issues they have highlighted are:
- The removal of bi-monthly large items truck and the impact of resulting fly-tipping
- The removal of garden waste bags and their collection
- The maintenance and appearance of the estate and it’s alleyways
- Call on the council, Environmental Health and WBC housing departments to work together to solve the infestation.
In an open letter to the council printed in this week’s Wokingham Paper, Janet and Hayley say that as the estate is council-owned land it should pay for pest control.
“We feel as though you consider this estate to be the back passage of this town, however, sometimes a rear end needs a wipe,” the letter states.
“We may live in the back end of the borough but we are not excrement.
“We deserve respect and we should be allowed to live with some dignity. Two ideals that are denied to those living on this estate on a daily basis.
“We are a fringe ward and we pay council tax to WBC, yet we get ignored and services cut and we are told to live in a rats nest on a condemned estate where we will be left here to rot for a number of years before any progress is made with development!
“It is common with developments like the plans for Gorse Ride South that local wildlife such as mice and rats habitats will be disturbed and the problem will escalate further.”
The Public Protection Partnership (PPP) is a shared service provided by Wokingham Borough Council, Bracknell Forest Council and West Berkshire Council, that includes environmental health. The PPP said would prefer not to comment on individual cases but Cllr Iain McCracken, Chairman of the Joint Public Protection Committee, has the following advice: “The PPP does not carry out pest control treatment work for rats. This responsibility rests with the occupier of land but we appreciate that some cases originate in land adjoining property and could be outside the occupier’s power to control, and as such requires a coordinated approach, working with your neighbours.
“Our advice to anyone using pest control contractors is to ensure any contractors are members of a recognised trade organisation, such as the British Pest Control Association.
“Officers from the PPP work closely with colleagues in Tenant Services and the wider community to protect public health concerns should complaints of rats arise on Council-owned properties. Tenant Services managers have discretion to assist vulnerable tenants as required.”
The public meeting will be held at 2pm on Monday, October 29 in St Mary and St John’s Parish Hall, Vicarage Close (off Billing Avenue) Gorse Ride South.
