PICTURE GALLERY: Aylesbury's forgotten estate

Prebendal Farm estate in Aylesbury - according to residents has become the 'forgotten estate' - paths in a mess, rubbish dumped and not cleared up, general disrepair - Alan Howard (pictured left) with residents

FOR MORE PICTURES OF PREBENDAL FARM SEE OUR GALLERY ABOVE

They are growing increasingly frustrated about the general disrepair in the area where they live.

Paths have been left in a mess, rubbish has been dumped and not cleared up and the area suffers from general untidiness.

Fowler Road resident Alan Howard said: “Two large mattresses and a bed have been dumped on the estate and they have been there for a month.

“A lot of the paths are obstructed by overgrown shrubbery, a lot of rubbish has been dumped by the shop and there are holes in the pavement.

“There is so much dirt in some of the gutters you could grow carrots in there.

“What we need is for the roadsweeper to go round and tidy the area up.”

Mr Howard, 77, who has lived on the estate for 45 years said he first spoke to a councillor about the state of the estate four years ago.

He said: “I spoke to Cllr Mike Smith (in 2014) and he said he would try and arrange a ‘blitz of the estate.’

“Nobody ever came and we have been fighting a battle since.

“If you look at some of the other estates in Aylesbury for example Bedgrove and Fairford Leys the grass is cut and it just looks nicer.

“When I first moved to the estate in 1973 it was a lovely place to live but over the last few years it has got progressively worse.”

Other than the community centre, all other properties in Prebendal Farm are owned and maintained by the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust or private owners.

Aylesbury Vale District Council is responsible for cleaning up fly-tipping on public land, but not private spaces.

The roads and pavements are the responsibility of Bucks County Council, and grass cutting of verges and weeding of public alleyways are the responsibility of Aylesbury Town Council.

Bill Chapple OBE, county council cabinet member for environment and planning said his team had not been made aware of any high levels of fly-tipping at Prebendal Farm recently,

He said: “We have a zero tolerance attitude to fly-tipping in Bucks.

“We will always investigate evidence no matter where the dumping takes place.”

Mark Shaw, deputy leader and cabinet member for transport said Transport for Bucks routinely inspect all roads and pavements for defects, and Prebendal Farm is no exception.

He said: “When our teams receive specific reports of problems, they’ll always look into them, and so I’m concerned that residents in this area feel forgotten.”

An Aylesbury Vale District Council spokesman said: “We are aware of some recent fly-tipping issues including dumped mattresses on Prebendal Farm.

“Our street cleaning team aims to remove these within a few days of them being reported however they can only clear up fly-tipping if it is on public land, not private spaces.”

A spokesman for the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust said: “Following the recent Prebendal Farm walkabout with Cllr Smith, the few incidents of fly-tipping identified on trust-owned land will be cleared this week.”

Photos by Derek Pelling.