Wheel your bins a mile
THOUSANDS of families have been ordered to haul their wheelie bins up to a mile along country lanes for collection.
Barmy officials came up with the scheme to avoid large refuse lorries having to negotiate narrow and uneven tracks.
But last night there was a furious backlash when it was revealed that all 65 residents in one rural community – including a man of 82 – would be expected to drag their bins along those same tracks in all weathers. Up to 5,000 households, almost a seventh of all homes in the area, would be affected.
The scale of public anger has forced the local council to rethink the scheme, even if it means having to re-equip its fleet with smaller vehicles.
The shambles is just the latest example of bureaucratic lunacy which the Daily Express has crusaded tirelessly to end.
Householders already face fines of up to £1,000 for putting out their bin at the wrong time, placing waste in the wrong bin, leaving their bin in the wrong place or failing to close the lid.
Nearly half the UK’s 397 local authorities have introduced fortnightly collections and these could be cut further to once a month.
Other councils are demanding residents buy their wheelie bins for at least £60 and refusing to empty them if people buy cheaper bins from a different source.
Copeland Borough Council in Cumbria yesterday received a barrage of complaints about the curtailment of rural collections and public meetings in village halls were packed with seething residents.
The tiny community of Irton, near Seascale, west Cumbria, was told all 65 residents would have to haul their bins to the end of the narrow lane which leads to the main road.
Resident Enid Winter said the longest lane was well over a mile long and villagers were worried about the chaos and disruption the new scheme would cause.
“If they are left by the side of the road, it’s a relatively fast road we are talking about,” she said. “And it’s also the thought of all the bins being scattered about.”
Local councillor Yvonne Clarkson said the problem had arisen because of proposals to introduce wheelie bins into all rural areas of Copeland.
“They have had them in our towns and urban areas for some years and it works well,” she said. “Until now, people in our rural areas have had their rubbish collected in big bags by council workers in smaller wagons.
“Now it is proposed to extend the wheelie bins to all rural areas the council has found that the new larger wagons they need to use cannot cope with the narrow lanes.
“In some areas it will not be a problem but in those com munities where it is a problem I think it is unreasonable to expect people to walk all of this way pulling their bins behind them.”
She added: “It’s not under way yet but if we don’t stand against it it will happen.”
Another councillor, David Moore, said one resident was angry not because he faced pulling his bin but because the collection point for 16 other houses was directly outside his front door.
He said the council’s action was “unjust”, adding: “No risk assessments have been carried out. This is purely down to costs.
“Some of these properties are in the highest tax band and are yet receiving no service.”
A spokesman for the council, based in Whitehaven, said the original idea was to prevent HGVs using unmade or private roads for health and safety reasons as well as preventing damage to vehicles. Now, however, several alternatives will be looked at. “It may be that smaller vehicles can be purchased which will find it much easier and safer to go along these roads.
“We can also consider assisted collections for people not able to reach a pick-up point down the lane. We recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach is not always appropriate.”
Councillor Allan Holliday, head of Environment and Sustainability, which includes bin collection, said each individual complaint would be dealt with.
“If anyone who contacts the council has a problem with their wheelie bin, an assessment will be made about what would be the most suitable way of collecting that bin.
“We will do our best to make sure everyone’s bin is collected, each individual is risk-assessed and an agreement made.” He said people with disabilities were entitled to have their bins collected from their homes.
