The Alfreda Street Pig Sty

By Laura Terrance on February 24, 2012 in News

Coogee residents and business owners have reached boiling point over the ever-growing pile of rubbish on Alfreda Street.

The street, which runs parallel to Coogee Bay Road, features businesses including McDonald’s, Five-Os, Sauce Bar & Grill and Titan Fitness, among others.

What was once a quaint street is now the dumping ground for drunks and backpackers alike, and business owners on the street in particular are fed up with the mess – not to mention the smell.

Adding to the problem, Alfreda Street is also the garbage bin collection point for many Coogee Bay Road businesses.

A casual stroll down Alfreda Street commonly involves navigating through dirty, overflowing bins, abandoned milk crates and piles of discarded boxes.

To exasperate the problem, garbage bags are often left on the street and birds eventually manage to tear these bags open, spilling their contents all over the footpath.

As BJ McHatton, owner of Sauce Bar & Grill, pointed out to The Beast, this tarnishes the image of the entire Coogee shopping precinct,

“Alfreda Street and the adjacent car park next to Coogee Oval provide parking to a lot of our community and visitors. People that park in this street have to experience this mess as they walk to their intended destination and this can only negatively affect all of the businesses,” McHatton said.

The effect on his own business is also an pbvious concern for McHatton.

“On many an evening I have had to ask businesses to put away their rubbish bins and clean up their frontage at 5pm in the afternoon just so that when I open Sauce our patrons do not have to wade through the rubbish bins in order to get to my front door,” he explained.

Residents and business owners of Alfreda Street are feeling neglected by Randwick Council. For one, the street is only half paved.

“It just seems like Alfreda Street is out of sight, out of mind, and is therefore neglected by the council,” McHatton said.

On any given morning at around 5am you will be find council workers cleaning up last night’s mess on Coogee Bay Road. And it would be unimaginable to see this much mess on Coogee Beach. So why is poor old Alfreda Street left out?

In saying this, it is not the sole responsibility of the council and the effort of some businesses on Alfreda Street is definitely lacking.

“Basically, I think it is easy to blame the council but the responsibility of keeping our rubbish in the bins and the bins off the streets both day and night should be borne by all of the offenders and then policed by the council if it continues,” McHatton added.

Randwick City Council, along with many business owners and local residents, have put a large effort into making Coogee a great family suburb with countless decent restaurants and cafes and an amazing beach. It is embarrassing that they then have to welcome visitors with a neglected street that often resembles a rubbish tip.