Laurence Dollimore
A BRITISH expat is urging her town hall to take action over a stinking rubbish plant.
Karen Wilkes, 64, has been living in a ‘nightmare’ for five years after Mijas Town Hall turned a plot of land behind her two houses into a rubbish dump.
The ‘plant’ sees bin collectors dump their loads onto the ground before it is squashed down and picked up again to be taken for treatment.
“The stench is horrendous,” Wilkes told the Olive Press, “We have to lock ourselves into the house so we can’t smell it and on windy days we get rubbish blown onto our property.”
Wilkes and her husband, 67, from Dorset, are being treated for depression, on which they blame their ongoing battle with the local authority.
“Originally the trucks were coming at 2am which we could live with,” Wilkes explained, “but last June they allowed trucks from Fuengirola to dump there too, and they began work at 10pm, and now trucks from Casares can also come here, starting around nine in the evening!”
Wilkes had sent letters for almost three years and got no response until 2015, when they were called to Mijas Town Hall. However, she said they received nothing but threats.
“A lawyer at the town hall told me that my houses were illegal – which they are not – and she told me they were going to have them knocked down.”
Wilkes let the matter lie until they granted permission for the Fuengirola and Casares trucks last year, which made her summer ‘unbearable’ as the heat only added to the stench.
“They have promised me appointments and calls but have delivered nothing,” she adds, “They just don’t take any notice of us, when we tried to film them dumping the rubbish they threatened to call the police.”
Wilkes, who moved to Spain 45 years ago, has planted shrubs and trees to try and hide the area from view, but it does little to silence the lorries, diggers and machinery.
“I’m not asking them to move the plant, all I want is some barriers put up that would help block out the noise and maybe some of the smell.”
Mijas Town Hall were unavailable for comment.
This is nothing, my neighbour has an ongoing battle with the town hall to fill two pot holes, which have not been repaired in nearly 15 years. I have seen broken street lightbulbs left for over a decade. Spain does not repair or maintain its infrastructure, and asking the town hall is often a total waste of time as they will blame the Junta, then the Junta blame the regional government, who in turn blame Meadrid, who in turn are waiting for EU funds. That is the order of things if you want something fixed. As for decision-making on issues affecting local people, expect a similarly ridiculous process, especially in Andalucia.
At least it is not the typical British landfill dump where you can find from hazardous chemicals and asbestos to dead whales and corpses.
All that “thing” is spilling into rivers, streets and beaches.
The UK faces a “toxic timebomb” and the govt, of course, does not do anything about it.
Maybe this guy could go back to the UK and start a campaign there.
We must not forget about the EU’s final warning to Spain about its awful air pollution last week either, and the EU commissions July 2015 ruling on illegal landfills across Spain. Funny how you forgot to mention those, Pablo. Whales and corpses wash up on beaches all around the world; the UK doesn’t have a monopoly on dead carcasses washing up on its beaches lol. Try harder next time Pablo.