Success in getting Council Recycling Collection??

Fire_Fox

I live in a city centre and we have no recycling collection or drop off points (10-15 minutes walk to nearest!). I have previously asked for recycling facilities and been fobbed off; now am an active member of my local Residents' Association and met others who have been told they are the only ones asking!

I don't want to start a renegade campaign or anything, as the RA have a number of things on our agenda to deal with. But I did wonder if anyone knew of ways to 'persuade' the council to take action - such as government or EU directives that might be being broken?

joolsybools

It might be worth getting in touch with your local MP www.writetothem.com and see if there are any local environmental groups you could link up with http://www.meetup.com/ (change search to UK!)

I'm astonished that there are no colleaction facilities, which council is it?

Fire_Fox

Thanks for the reply! An environmental group is a great idea. It's Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Several residents have been fed the same line - you are the only one who is bothered, one resident was warned the lorry would be too noisy!

Without going on a major rant many departments don't seem to care about city residents at all, we have actually been refused a Neighbourhood Forum and have no ward councillor surgeries on our 'patch'. The council did a Local Area Action Plan without consulting residents which goes against policy! I believe we are inviting our MP to our launch event, lets see if they attend.

greenbee

Have a look at this...

http://www.letsrecycle.com/legislation/household.jsp

Also see whether you have a local Friends of the Earth group or other campaign group who you can get your RA to work with.

Fire_Fox

"by 2010" does rather suggest they are obliged to provide doorstep collection this year then! I have just looked on the council's website to see if there is any new information, and have ordered a paper recycling large bin with insert for glass and cans. The thing did not like my address, but I am rather tempted to suggest all the other RA regulars order a bin too! Might put the cat amongst the pigeons ...

smiler34

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Thanks for the reply! An environmental group is a great idea. It's Bradford Metropolitan District Council. Several residents have been fed the same line - you are the only one who is bothered, one resident was warned the lorry would be too noisy!

Without going on a major rant many departments don't seem to care about city residents at all, we have actually been refused a Neighbourhood Forum and have no ward councillor surgeries on our 'patch'. The council did a Local Area Action Plan without consulting residents which goes against policy! I believe we are inviting our MP to our launch event, lets see if they attend.

How is it I live in calderdale (minutes from Bradford) and they have just set up a new recycling collection scheme and you get fobbed off with this c**p it's people in cities who need help with recycling most of all.

Fire_Fox

smiler34 wrote: »

How is it I live in calderdale (minutes from Bradford) and they have just set up a new recycling collection scheme and you get fobbed off with this c**p it's people in cities who need help with recycling most of all.

Because the powers-that-be have a masterplan for regenerating the city centre and they don't want residents' opinions to get in the way. Our patch is the only part of the district with no Local Area Action Plan in place, and residents are getting some very vague responses when we try to get in on the act. The irritating thing is we are very much behind the regeneration, really just wanting to be consulted and minor tweaks. :mad:

We have formally asked for a Neighbourhood Forum in the city centre and told that it isn't possible as the issues we will raise will be too expensive to action! To be fair we have had fantastic support from City Centre Management, from the police force and from several local businesses.

Obviously this is just my personal opinion, and doesn't necessarily represent the standpoint of any organisation that I might happen to work for in a paid or voluntary capacity.

Fire_Fox

An update ... our resident's association officially launched yesterday, and the event was attended by the council recycling department. Basically the onus is on us to find suitable spots for recycling bins (permission/ access etc.) and the council will provide a service! Of course this is going to be quite a challenge, but it would be a brilliant thing for us to be able to say we achieved.

Fire_Fox

Another update, an e-mail from the council department

"Thank you for your kind comments although we often work evenings and weekends 'spreading' the recycle message but it is nice to be appreciated.

Since our meeting I have had a number of requests from residents who wish to start recycling and we are looking at their request on an individual basis. We will be doing a site visit to xxx shortly and I'll keep you posted.

xxx Council is aware of their obligations to the Household Waste Recycling Act and is working towards compliance in 2010. We have rolled out kerbside recycling of paper,glass and cans to over 200.000 properties and garden waste to over 164.000 properties but still have work to do especially multi-occupancy which is difficult as you acknowledged in your email.

I am having the xxx Road HWRC leaflet reworked especially for the City Centre residents and when it's ready I will send the PDF to be included on the xxx website, also we'll give you some leaflets to give out at your meetings.

We all have our part to play in recycling and we appreciate your efforts and those of the City Centre residents who are willing to help us."

DCFC79

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Another update, an e-mail from the council department

"Thank you for your kind comments although we often work evenings and weekends 'spreading' the recycle message but it is nice to be appreciated.

Since our meeting I have had a number of requests from residents who wish to start recycling and we are looking at their request on an individual basis. We will be doing a site visit to xxx shortly and I'll keep you posted.

xxx Council is aware of their obligations to the Household Waste Recycling Act and is working towards compliance in 2010. We have rolled out kerbside recycling of paper,glass and cans to over 200.000 properties and garden waste to over 164.000 properties but still have work to do especially multi-occupancy which is difficult as you acknowledged in your email.

I am having the xxx Road HWRC leaflet reworked especially for the City Centre residents and when it's ready I will send the PDF to be included on the xxx website, also we'll give you some leaflets to give out at your meetings.

We all have our part to play in recycling and we appreciate your efforts and those of the City Centre residents who are willing to help us."

good to see you are getting somewhere

Fire_Fox

Latest news :j

"We are waiting delivery of some lids for a Lockdown which we are considering for XXX House, they have been on order for some weeks now but we expect them anytime. We hope to have recycling facilities at XXX House very soon."