CLEANING UP THE DIRTY RATS

28-02-2007

Campaigning councillor Martin Mullaney is using a little known regulation to help clean up Birmingham by forcing untidy landowners out of business. As usual, he's telling the world by putting it all on youTube.

Mullaney is taking advantage of a Section 215 Notice which allows local authorities to remove eyesores - then charge the property owner who allowed the mess to develop in the first place. The next step is to make a compulsory purchase order on the land.

It's a piece of legislation which could be activated by councillors all over the West Midlands - and all over the country - but is all too rarely used.

Earlier this year, Mullaney used a Section 215 against the owner of the former Sorrento Hospital site in Moseley where a tidying-up operation is now almost complete. Next in his sights is a rubbish-strewn row of garages behind Dads Lane and Shutlock Lane which have become a haven for drugs users and rats.

The land is owned by a company based in Birmingham's Broad Street who are now being ordered to clean it up - or else risking losing it altogether.

To see what a mess it's become check out Mullaney's latest epic here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGojXSwXA5o