Furore over new collection point for bins
NEIGHBOURS SAY DESIGNATED SPOT WILL SEE THEM HAVING TO DRAG WHEELIE BINS DOWN SLOPING GRASS VERGE
RESIDENTS on a Huddersfield street are gearing up for a stand-off with Kirklees Council over their bin collections.
Earlier this week a handful of houses on Fenay Bridge Road in Fenay Bridge discovered stickers had been put on their grey waste bins by bin crews.
It advised them to leave their bins in a different location – on a narrow pavement across the road from their homes.
It means dragging the bins down a sloping grass verge.
Residents say they weren’t consulted in advance and have asked the council for an explanation and to compromise.
One woman said: “I’ve lived here for 15 years and this is the first time this has happened.
“Myself and my neighbours suspect it’s because the binmen don’t want to have to pull our bins across the verge.
“Maybe they’re worried about health and safety, but what about our health and safety?
“No one has been in touch about this. No letter, no email, nothing. All we got was a sticker on the bin.
“But if we leave our bins where we’ve been told to, they’ll totally block the pavement. Plus, why should we have to drag them across the road? This road can be dangerous; people tear along here sometimes.
“So we’ll be putting our bins where we always have.”
Local councillor Bernard McGuin said he had asked the council for a compromise, and for bins to be left on the corner of nearby Peace Hall Drive.
He said: “I think it’s because the binmen don’t want to take the bins down the grass slope.
“Why no consultation? They just put a sticker on their bin and told them to leave their bin next time where the bins had been left by the binmen.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Kirklees Council to comment on the situation – and to clarify whether residents’ bin would be collected if they did not comply with the instructions on the sticker.
There have been a series of issues with bin collections in the borough in recent weeks.
In Golcar last month bin bags were left piled high on a narrow lane following several missed collections by bin crews.
And in January a refuse worker was suspended pending disciplinary action after he was caught urinating on bins during a collection round.
The man’s behaviour – filmed by a resident on January 20 as bins were being emptied – was described as ‘clearly unacceptable and inappropriate.’
The council apologised and pledged to replace the bins in question.