Leeds city council are dreadful

Kazipoo

£86 a month here, lowest band I think!! And I love it in Leeds, i've lived many places, but I always come back!!

kitekat

In the 80s when we had loads of snow most people not only cleared their own paths but the pavement directly out side their house, this resulted in almost clear pavements.Why cant people do this today all you need is a shovel and abit of backbone and if you have an elderly neighbour do it for them you will feel so much better for it.We seem to live in a culture of waiting for others to do everything for us.

muddypaws2807

This thread is NOT about how much council tax people pay, its about having a service that we as tax payers pay for.With council cutbacks they will have looked at where they can shave off overheads and that would include less gritting of minor roads and paths and fewer vehicles and less people I guess

However, I did write to my MP via this site and he has been in touch with the Highways Agency and also the Prinicpal Area Manager for Refuse in LCC and got this response which does not suprise me at all

[FONT=&quot]Long Way is situated on a very steep hill. Since mid December we have been experiencing problems with ice and snow. The drivers have made every effort to negotiate their vehicles around the routes. It is a professional decision made by them and reported to their line manager when they cannot access an area. The next scheduled collection for this area is Monday 11th Jan.
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Ok so they cant get to us, but they recongnise an issue so why the hell did they take the grit box away? Thats another story. What I did suggest that whilst mking a decision NOT to collect the bins for so long why dont they look at an alternative, say pop a note in the letterbox of people it affects to the effect of "we are unable to collect your refuse this week due to adverse weather conditions. We will be collecting from Fred Street , if you wish your refuse to be collected please place your bin there on 25th Jan"


Now the street LCC do collect from is all but 30 yards if that from my street, and would be more than happy to wheel it there, it just seems to me that LCC have shut the door and simply not looked at the fact we have not had bins colelcted at all and there are old people in the street with no means of transport and its getting rediculous. Its a quick simple fix, not hurting anyone but it is getting the refuse collected

snapping_crocodile

The trouble is the council have to prioritise where they grit. They haven't got the money, time or work force to grit every single road in the area. It is commonly understood that it is only the main roads, and the priority routes (eg bus routes) that get gritted. I have also never heard of them gritting pavements. I agree council tax fees seem extortinate (sp?) however they do fund a lot of services, not just the bin men and gritting!! As a nation we have to start taking responsibility for our own safety. If you know the paths /roads are snowy/icy then we need to take extra care and not whinge that it is the councils fault. The link below is a prime example of my thoughts, particularly when there seems to be a national shortage of grit anyway!

http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/southwalesnews/Gritting-prevented-accident/article-1683808-detail/article.html

muddypaws2807

Snapping Crocodile, I can assure you that Councils DID grit pathways and minor roads when I was but a kid admittedly a long time ago, but as usual cuts and all that has restricted the services we get. My point is that they have admitted they could not get to us, what I have suggested is like the Post office stick a card through the letter box and say they cannot collect refuse but if we (residents) need a bin collection put it on XYZ Street on a given day. Its not rocket science! I can see the street where I am where they collect for god sake they pass the end of my road! Its taking the michael really.

I am fully aware they have to prioritise what i am saying is come up with an alternative then! I am not complaining either about how much I pay what I am saying is fair play I pay for a service, what I am asking them to do is freaking provide it or do something else I actually have given them an alternative whether they pursue it or not is another matter, probably not, and bin men really one look at a flake of snow and they would turn round.

It may not have been considered but having worked in a sales/customer service environment one thing we aim to do is ensure our customer are happy, we endeavour to deliver a 100% service if we know that for example they ordered a green widget and all we have is blue, we would send blue so not to let the customer down and as soon as we get green in we send, happy customer! What we would not do is ignore the request, hope for the best and send a gree widget later. WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

ian1969uk

kitekat wrote: »

In the 80s when we had loads of snow most people not only cleared their own paths but the pavement directly out side their house, this resulted in almost clear pavements.Why cant people do this today all you need is a shovel and abit of backbone and if you have an elderly neighbour do it for them you will feel so much better for it.We seem to live in a culture of waiting for others to do everything for us.

This is because we have become a compensation culture.

Did you know, if you clear the front of your house and someone slips, you can be sued. If you just leave it and someone slips, then you are not liable.

Storck

muddypaws2807 - just think yourself lucky that you do not live in a block of apartments. If you did you would have to still pay our council tax, including bin collection, plus your service charge, including bin collection. This is due to the fact that they class the block as a business. This was the same when I used to run a pub they wouldn't collect my household waste etc as they said we had to put it in with business waste but we didn't get a reduction.

kitekat

ian1969uk wrote: »

This is because we have become a compensation culture.

Did you know, if you clear the front of your house and someone slips, you can be sued. If you just leave it and someone slips, then you are not liable.

I doubt very much whether thats the reason no one clears the pavement outside their home as very few people would be aware of being sued,i think it is pure and simple laziness.

Wonderful100

kitekat wrote: »

I doubt very much whether thats the reason no one clears the pavement outside their home as very few people would be aware of being sued,i think it is pure and simple laziness.

I think that many, many people are now aware of the compensation world that we now live in and are not clearing their pathways. Major supermarkets don't even bother to clear their car parks for exactly the same reason.

Our council have gritted the road here once and that just happened to be on a delayed bin collection day since then they have not bothered nor have they bothered to collect any rubbish either. I find it strangely amusing that they have proved that they can indeed clear the road and get the bin wagon down..when it suits them.

kitekat

I doubt any of it would hold up in court,how could someone prove you were responsible for clearing the pavement outside your house.Without photographic evidence its a no goer.I do not expect my local council to grit the pavements as long as they grit the roads thats all i ask.