For years, Wollongong man Barry Harrison says, he has been dealing with rats eating their way up through his floor and making a home for themselves in his unit.
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Mr Harrison lives in a public housing block on Cliff Road, where a skip bin is being blamed by both residents and neighbours as a major source of the problem.
He described the bin as "New York City for rats" and said the Department of Housing had done nothing to control the pests in his unit or the complex.
While his floor had been patched up, he said, the rats chewed their way through again.
"I can't have a guest over because you can't even hear yourself speak for the noise of 10 rats brawling," Mr Harrison said.
But a Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said the NSW Land and Housing Corporation had "a proactive rodent management program in place at the site which includes bait stations strategically located in and around the common areas complimented by other rodent eradication methods".
The spokesperson said the baits were replaced every six weeks, but in response to concerns the LAHC was revising this to every four weeks.
When the Mercury visited the Cliff Road complex on June 2, multiple dead rats were strewn about its grounds.
The bin in question sits at the rear of the Cliff Road complex, at the end of Wilson Street.
Wilson Street resident Les Wilson has long been calling for the department to make changes to the bin; last year, he and other residents of his apartment building spoke to the Mercury about their issues with it, namely the rats, odour and visual impact.
They say the bin is often overflowing and the area around it is not cleaned properly.
"It's just ongoing and it's getting worse," Mr Wilson said.
But the Planning Department spokesperson said contractors visited the site fortnightly and cleaned in and around the bin enclosure.
They said there was no capacity for individual bins for each of the complex's 57 units and no alternative location for the skip bin, which was in a position easily accessed by the waste service provider.
Mr Wilson said he had had repeated conversations with Wollongong MP Paul Scully and his office, but the Department of Housing had stopped responding to him.
"My office continue to work with Housing on options to better manage the waste problem," Mr Scully said on Monday.
"The advice I received late last week is that the current baiting program is on a six-week cycle, and Land and Housing Corporation is looking at how they might increase this to a four-week cycle to deal with any neighbours' concerns."
Another resident of Wilson Street, Ritsa Murray, said she had problems with rats in the walls and underneath her house.
Mrs Murray said she did not believe the public housing complex was maintained properly, and the skip bin was often overflowing with rubbish.
A resident of the public unit complex, Kevin (who did not want to provide his last name) said residents had taken it upon themselves to buy rat bait, but it only went so far.
"We can't keep up with them," Kevin said.
When the skip bin was collected, he said, rats were seen falling out of it.
"The bin is our main focus and our main worry," Kevin said.
Another resident told the Mercury of how she, like Mr Harrison, had had rats eat their way up through the floor into her unit.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
