Council denies responsibility for ‘unhygienic’ overspill
ARGYLL and Bute Council has been accused of unresponsive service and lacking common sense by people living in an Ardrishaig block of flats.
With an overflowing communal bin, residents at Fyne Homes’ Tigh na Creige complex were left with little option but to fill plastic bags with excess waste, left beside the bin for uplift. The overspill bags were not removed with the normal bin collection.
Resident Emma Young, 28, said: ‘There are six families, with kids from newborns up to age 12 or 13, sharing a bin. It’s just not big enough, and now the bags left behind are attracting mice. It’s unhygienic, and I don’t want my 10-month-old daughter, who’s learning to walk, going outside the door basically into Lingerton dump.’
The mother-of-one added: ‘They had to lift the overspill bags to get to the household waste bin. Why couldn’t they just lift the bags and put them in the lorry? Where is the common sense?’
Occupants of the flats also have a communal blue recycling bin, for collection every two weeks. This bin, says Emma, was not lifted a fortnight ago.
‘They left a note attached to the bin to say there was food waste in it,’ said Emma.
‘Last week they came back and emptied both the green and blue bins – before leaving the big blue bin 30 feet away from where it should be.’
When she contacted Argyll and Bute Council to complain about the bins, Emma claims she received no response. ‘I used a form on the council website specifically for reporting missed bin collections. I have heard nothing. Not even an acknowledgement.’
A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: ‘The crew followed council procedure. It is the customer’s responsibility to deal with excess waste produced.’
The spokesperson added: ‘The recycling bin was emptied into the general waste stream along with the domestic collection schedule. The recycling bin was returned to the normal collection point and the domestic waste bin returned to the fenced compound.’ Asked why Emma had received no response to her complaint, the council replied: ‘There was no contact number on the inquiry that we received, and we have attempted to contact the complainer via Fyne Homes, with no success.’