commenting on rubbish collection

Written: 09/01/08

SCDC are asking for comments on their Christmas bin collection arrangements. This is the response I've just sent back.

Today's press release asks for our views on the arrangements at Christmas.

As I was one of those quoted in the "Cambridge News" article on this issue I thought I'd better respond, not least because our green bin is now full and we're having to put kitchen waste in the black bin - and there's still a week to go before the green bin is emptied.

I should begin by making it clear it was Cambridge News that stirred this issue up, not me, they just came to me looking for a quote as their reporters know me as a result of the campaign to save the Country Park but as I've said before to our local councillors I do think the council could do better.

In a statement Georgina Hayward put out in response to the Cambridge News story, a copy of which was forwarded to me by Cllr Summerfield, she said:

"In the past council members have considered many options to deal with service arrangements for Christmas and New Year. These included collecting ahead of schedule (but unfortunately residents do not always remember to put their bins out) and collecting on rolling days after Bank Holidays but this can take three weeks to catch up."

I don't know about you but that statement read to me as "our residents are too stupid to cope with anything better than what we're doing now".

I don't think that's the case.

Where I used to live in Yateley, Hants (so Hart District Council) wheeled collections just fell backwards N days every time there was a bank holiday and there was no attempt to "catch up" as Georgina suggests you would have to do. This saved the council money (no overtime to pay for the Saturday collection after a bank holiday as I assume there is now) and people seemed to understand it without problems (the council put collection day stickers on bins, but as you have the magazine I'm not sure you would need that).

So for this Christmas in Milton it would have worked like this:

Tue 11/12/2007 : Black Bin.
Tue 18/12/2007 : Green Bin and Box.
Thu 27/12/2007 : Black Bin.
Fri 04/01/2008 : Green Bin and Box.
Fri 11/01/2008 : Black Bin.

So the consequence was black bin would be two days late rather than one week one day and green bin would be three days late rather than two weeks. Not only that but you would get more waste in the green bin, not just kitchen waste but also cardboard even if we can't put wrapping paper in there.

Thereafter we would be on Friday collections until Easter where we would fall back another two days, so collection day would be Tuesday again.

I think you should consider moving to this collection model, both for Christmas and all the other bank holidays.

Regards

Paul Oldham

If you think this is a good idea then why not mail them yourself? Or mail them your own ideas?
 

<- older wibblings

newer wibblings ->

what's this?

legalities:
 - disclaimer
 - copyright info
 - privacy policy

powered by
  Opus (rel 2.28)