A CLOTHES bank in Cardiff that residents say is poorly placed is leading to people stripping off in the street, according to one resident.
The clothes bank outside the Salvation Army centre in Avondale Road in Grangetown has been there for about three years.
A resident who lives on the street said piles of clothing had continuously built up outside the clothes bank, sometimes encroaching onto the pavement, for as long as they’d known it to be there.
According to the resident, who did not want to be named, the bags of clothing were eventually collected in the week but this was only for the pile to build up again.
They said: “The last 12 months to 18 months have been an absolute nightmare, especially in the winter when it is heavy, heavy rain at night.
“You can imagine, this clothing doesn’t just stay put.
“It gets blown out onto the roads.”
It’s not just bags of old t-shirts, trousers and jumpers that build up outside the clothes bank. It also reportedly attracts “junk” and other rubbish.
The resident who spoke with the Local Democracy Reporting Service about the problem in Avondale Road, said it got worse on the weekend and on bank holidays.
They said: “On a Sunday evening or a Saturday evening when people are off work it is just one car after the other. It is like a supermarket retail car park over there.”
Talking about what happened afterwards, they added: “Somebody will come past on a push bike… and start ripping open bags.
“If that is done 8pm on a Saturday, especially now in the summer when it is very light evenings it is an embarrassment if we have got family friends coming.
“The first thing you look at is that [pile of clothes].
“It’s not very nice. It is not a nice advertisement for the Bay.”
The Salvation Army has been approached for a comment about the clothes bank and its placement close to the pavement on Avondale Road.
Cardiff Council is responsible for maintaining Avondale Road, but the clothes bank itself is on private land.
A council spokesperson said the matter had not been brought to the attention of its waste education and enforcement team.
Recalling an incident that happened one evening a few weeks ago, the resident we spoke with said: “I was in bed and I could hear giggling and laughter… it’s 12am.
“I looked out of the window into my car bay and there was a woman half naked throwing clothes and trying them on.”
The resident said they called the police out of concern for the individual.
They also saw a woman taking clothes from the site in a separate incident recently and that police officers arrived to put the items inside the clothes bank.
South Wales Police confirmed that officers attended the site of the clothes bank on the morning of Saturday, May 10.
A police spokesperson said: “Officers were at the nearby patrol station when they noticed a female going through clothes.
“They approached her and ensured nothing was taken.
“The woman then assisted in putting the bags in the bank.
“The officers are unable to confirm if the clothes were already outside the clothes bank or if they had been taken out.”
Clothes banks reduce waste and help to address the environmental impact of textiles going to landfill.
The Salvation Army website states that about £140m worth of clothes go to waste every year.
The church has about 8,000 clothes banks across the UK.
It’s website also states: “Everything you donate is re-sold, reused or recycled, helping us lessen our impact on the environment while raising money to support our projects throughout the UK.”
The resident we spoke with said they recognised people wanted to do their bit for society and recycle clothing.
However, they also thought the Avondale Road clothes bank should be relocated.
The resident added: “It just wears you down.
“If you could imagine waking up each morning and finding someone putting a cooker or mattress outside of your home on the pavement that’s quite upsetting and distressing, but to know that it is going to happen every couple of days it… does weigh you down a little bit.
“It’s like a free for all car boot sale. And at least with car boot sales, they pack up their rubbish… and they take all their stuff away.
“This is just disgusting.”
