Labour tampering with the system again

Posted by Glynis:

This morning our hessian sack, that we have used for the three years that Redcar & Cleveland Council has been seriously into recycling, was taken away and a pack 10 clear plastic sacks was stuck on the door handle.

A letter explained that we had requested this change (we most certainly did not). We are now expected to tie this bag up and fasten it to the weelie bin on collection days. That is okay in theory, but more often than not, my bin is emptied hours before the plastics and cardboard are collected.

Once the wheelie bins are brought in the bags will be left out. I have this vision of bags full of plastic bottles blowing up and down roads. Either that or we will have two bin wagons on our streets at the same time.

The change is because some people did not bother to use the velcro fastening on the hessian sack and plastic bottles often spilled out. Why do they think people will be more inclined to find something to tie up the new bags and then fasten them to the wheelie bin when they could not be bothered to fasten the velcro strap?

The problem round here is not so much people not fastening up the bags, it is the speed with which the collection operatives feel they have to work. When they transfer them into another container some spill out and they don't bother to pick them up.

Why they need to tamper with the system is because when we introduced it, the Lib Dem led Coalition followed the guidance set down by the Labour Government to the letter. We became a Beacon Council and were rated as the best in the north east.

The Labour opposition were seething with rage over this and did nothing but whinge and moan about the system. 80% of residents got fully behind us and participated in recycling but it was the 20% that could not be bothered that Labour encouraged. Constantly knocking the two-weekly collection cycle and promising to return to weekly collection of refuse.

Now they find that we were right all along and have abandoned their promise to return to weekly refuse collection because it will put at least 4% on the Council Tax. Instead they have come up with a barmy plan to just put it up by one half percent and collect refuse weekly for eight weeks of the year, either Christmas or the summer, they have not decided yet.

What they should be doing is continuing with our programme of visiting residents who don't recycle and advising them how to do it. This was working well and they could use the extra money that will be spent on the pointless eight weeks of weekly collection to employ extra people to carry out the advisory visits.