The Council's Responses to the Wheeled Bin Saga

Fortunately, this particular barrister resident is not in court this week, and appears to have time on his hands. Dealing with the bin saga, didn't he need it!

The flurry of correspondence with Brian Graham, Head of Environmental Services and 'Bin Tsar', is now probably clogging up your email in-box - just as the uncollected waste would have over-spilled your bins but for Councillor Cyndi Hughes' intervention. With her stern warning, 'Environmental Services' relented and arranged to remedy the failed Tuesday morning collection.

But where are we now?

Brian Graham seems to have failed to appreciate that South Terrace residents are not used to being treated as naughty children that neglected to read the rules. We comprise senior and elder members, active families, and young busy couples who simply expect a basic bin service and modest level of communication on topics such as bin day.

We first got to grips with the prospect of wheeled bins in April 2013. In June 2013 we heralded the introduction of the new scheme. Probably unique in Darlington, we have even publish the Council's weekly collection link on our Facebook Group.

So, it came as a great shock when one anonymous South Terrace resident reported, "I also informed them that a number of properties missed the collection due to the earlier collection time. They were extremely unhelpful and advised me that there would be no additional collection - that I would need to dispose of any rubbish myself that wasn't collected (as it was my fault I missed it) and that they would not take away any side waste at the next collection".

Looking at the thread of comments on 'Wheeled bins - a Saga of Disaffection' and our Facebook Group, it is evident that Environmental Services simply want to sweep the dust under the carpet. "Agreeing to disagree" is just a euphemism for simply not wanting to listen, and certainly not wanting to say 'sorry'. 

Our thanks go to the residents who took rubbish to the tip, and to those who waited patiently for the Friday collection. But have Environmental Services redeemed themselves? Maybe you can share your views on the Facebook page?

Wheeled bins - a sad saga of disaffection

Our new wheeled bins of South Terrace were first put out in the back lane for collection on 17 June 2013. Then, we had but one black bin, collected each week, with fortnightly recycling from the front of the house.

Little did we know that Darlington Council's master plan was to move us seamlessly to fortnightly collections, expecting families to store their waste for up to 14 days. 

The council's consultation into the fortnightly recycling/waste collection service saw but 576 replies from residents. Of those 53.8% (310) said the changes would not impact on them, with 46.2 per cent (266 including mine) saying they would be affected. Given a population level of over 106,000, it is not clear what the remaining 105,424 (99.45%) Darlington residents thought - nor was it divulged what number supporting the changes were Darlington Council employees.

In a report prepared for their meeting on Tuesday 7 January 2014, Darlington Council responded to the concerns, pledging extra publicity and enforcement action to ensure people use their bins correctly.

Move on to Tuesday 14 October 2014. After over a year of having our bins collected in mid afternoon, refuse collectors attended without warning at 7.15 am. Those who had mistakenly taken their bins out on Monday (the former day for collection), and left them there, comprised the few lucky ones who had their bins emptied. Those of us who had returned them to their homes (incentivised by the threat of a £70 fine for leaving them out overnight) were not so lucky. Ours is the misfortune of now having to store our refuse for up to a month.

Today's thread on the South Terrace Facebook group page shows just how upset and disappointed many residents have become when facing a finger-wagging, dismissive, blaming commentary from Street Scene office staff. One resident described it thus, "Street Scene present a 'jobs-worth' attitude on the phone. No attempt to say that they are sorry, nor that they sympathise, no empathy, just a determination to say that the failed collection is all our fault".

Our councillors wish to have local people supporting Street Scene initiatives, and here at South Terrace we have done our share, with litter picking in Victoria Road, bulb planting, back lane maintenance and the formation of the award winning Gerald Lee Pocket Park. 

Now, I have to ask myself, where is the partnership? And why in circumstances, where the council has failed in its 7 January pledge, do they treat us with such disrespect?