Another rant.

[tomatoada]

I have just phoned Birmingham Council to ask why no green or black bags have been  delivered for over a year.   I was informed they no longer supply them and I can buy them at local stores.   I asked why I had not been informed and their  reply was that the information was available on line.  Considering the amount of council tax I pay I think this is miserly.    I was told that if I put garden waste in any plastic bag and leave the top open it will be collected.   I might try using old compost bags.
  I know the council are considering wheelie bins.   I have filled in a questionnaire  saying they are totally unsuitable for garden waste as this varies from month to month, and season to season.   When my neighbour cuts his hedge he will fill 8-10 bins.
Anyone else have an opinion on this?

[tomatoada]

[BarriedaleNick]

I can understand your point but we have wheelie bins here and they are great.  No more trouble with cats and foxes shredding bags and it makes collection much easier.  We don't get green waste collected separately here but then I compost most of mine so it isn't really and issue and I believe there is a local collection point for green waste if needed.

[steve1967]

Beware of the green bins!!!

We had them for a number of years then in 2011 the council decided to charge for having them emptied. £35.00 a year!!!

Even if I had loads of dosh I wouldnt pay on principle. By there own admission they made a profit when they were emptied for free out of the compost it provided.

Most of my green waste ends up in compost bins down the lottie and anything else is taken to the recycle centre maybe a couple of times a year.

It would appear that where ever you live in the country the local council are out to make money from us with the levels of service they provide getting worse.

[persecuted unlimited]

we have 3 large wheelie bins here, non recycle/recycle/garden waste, we also have small food recycle bins. I don't think i could go back to bin bags

[Obelixx]

I think you may ba asking too much of councils who are strapped for cash and have to make efficiency drives.     If you waqnat services, they have to be paid for.   My local council expects people to compost green waste or take it to the recycling centre.   People without their own transport can arrange to have it collected and they give free lessons on composting.

We have a wheelie bin for non recyclable waste which can be put out for weekly emptying if needed or just when it's full.  We have small paper bags for batteries and light bulbs. which we can take to the centre or hand in at shops that sell them.   We have different bags for plastic bottles and containers, tins and cartons which are collected once a fortnight and and papers and cardboard can be wrapped up for a monthly collection.    Small electrical goods, plant pots, car and kitchen oils, medicines and other such waste can be taken to the recycling centre for appropriate disposal or recycling.  Three times a year there's a collection of stuff too big to go in a car such as old mattresses and furniture.

If you buy a new fridge or freezer or other whie goods, you pay a premium for its recycling and the supplier has to take the old one away for safe disposal.

All very simple and really cuts down on fly tipping which is another expensive problem for councils to deal with.

[lottie lou]

We in Sandwell, just the other side of the Hagley Road have never had free bin bags.  This from the council with the highest rates, or so I am given to understand, in the West Midlands.  We have now been issued with wheelie bins, 3 in number that some householders leave on the pavement permanently alongside their cars which are also parked on said pavement.  That makes me really really annoyed being a pedestrian.  We have also been issued with 2 small locking bins for waste food but as there is very little wastage of food in this household.......  Large items have to be paid for in advance for collection.

[ACE]

Our wheelies cannot be put out unless it is the day of collection. Never had green bags, always a trip to the tip with the van, but now I use a trailer. I usually combine the trip with picking up some council compost/soil improver. Not near xmas though as it is usually full of pine needles.

[ancellsfarmer]

I recall Arthur, a village character and retired grave-digger , mentioning in the local pub the arrival of his new wheelie. He lived in the middle terrace and the only route around the back was from a twitten about 80 yards away.He hated the sight of a bright blue bin under his front window and was daunted at  needing to push the bin out weekly onto the pavement. He proudly announced that he had "sunk " it level to the pavement and that to fill it ,all he had to do was flip up the lid .

[Borlotti]

I love my bins, can ask for small ones or share with a neighbour.  I don't drive so all garden/food waste goes in the green bin.  Luckily we have a side entrance so the bins do not have to go in the front garden.  Used to get a free collection for 3 big items, but the Council have stopped that and we have to pay.  I know the bins do look ugly, but it does stop the foxes and the black bags from getting split open.  Attached photo of my side alley where the lovely landlord does not provide bins. People are just dirty, and I pick up tin cans on my way to the shops and put them in my recycling bin, grandchildren laugh as I tell them that if they sit still too long they will be recycled.
Photo of flats that don't have bins.

[pumkinlover]

  That's horrible Borlotti.
Is that the container you tried to get moved? I expect you feel like you are 
They are charging for green bins in Sheffield now, I do not understand as I thought the green bin/ recycling push was all about running out/ cost of landfill. Also of course by providing these services it cuts the cost of fly tipping and keeps an area tidy
We are lucky at the moment in Chesterfield all services carrying on, I bring recycling from work as we do not have that much to put in our bins, and collect stuff on the way back  from the allotment (cans and bottles)

[French-Dream]

we have 3 large wheelie bins here, non recycle/recycle/garden waste, we also have small food recycle bins. I don't think i could go back to bin bags

Same for us, works a treat.  We are lucky  to have a recycling place in the village, when we lived in France every village had it's own recycling center, and the profit from it went back into the local  community, not such a bad idea.

[Borlotti]

Council refused the lovely landlord permission for the containers, as he had no planning permission,  but he is going to court to try and reverse the decision, I have got the Councillor involved, but will not talk about it anymore as my blood pressure goes up. Today we have a bed frame dumped there.  I call it 'nuts alley', hopefully it will get sorted soon.

[Lishka]

Hello Ada,

Here in B'ville, S.B'ham, we had black & green bags delivered last September(ish) - I was away and a kindly(?) neighbour 'appropriated' mine for his own use - and another delivery about a month/6 weeks ago; I found them on my doorstep before said neighbour recycled them for his own use this time...

We had a letter from our local Councillors telling us of the proposal to switch to bins and there was also the mention of the £35 charge for collecting green waste and also that each houshold would have ONE free bulk waste collection p.a. instead of the previous three. The Councillors are opposing the scheme but,  despite BCC's one-time assurance that our area (a Conservation area and on The Heritage Trail) would continue to have the black/green bag collection to keep our pavements clear and clean, it was obvious that the new scheme was a done-deal. Like you I filled the online form with my reasons why I, along with the Councillors, believe the bin scheme to be inappropriate for this area....  The reasons are many and varied and all valid, but I'm sure that the bins will arrive, resulting in cluttered pavements as elderly peeps will have to leave them there, more bonfires and more fly tipping.

BTW Wyvales have 2 large skips just inside their entrance - 1 for plantpot/general potting shed waste, the 2nd for green garden waste - did you know?

ATB - my target between now and Thursday, our next green waste collection, is to cut all the high hawthorne hedges - usual cull = 14-18 green bags of cuttings from these alone, and then some trees/bushes are going to get drastic haircuts too. Busy time ahead.......

Lishka

 

[lottie lou]

I don't understand how mangy and dirty some people are.  Here in Sandwell the council installed large street furniture in the form of planters, and knowing the council, at great cost.  They would look nice if they had some plants in but they are used as ashtrays/rubbish bins by the public.  Have people no pride in their environment?

[tomatoada]

Thanks for all the replies.   More information from here than the  council.

C/T in Sandwell more than Birmingham!!  I have a friend in Oldbury.   She is in a cheaper  band and pays the same as myself.

Hi Lishka,  So that is how things stand.  My C/T address is Bournville.   But I live on the Cotteridge/Bournville/ Kings Norton border.

Good luck with your hedge.   My neighbour has a 100ft privet hedge.   No way could he compost it.

I still think I pay enough in C/T to get free green bags.

[pumkinlover]

I still think I pay enough in C/T to get free green bags.

from Tomataoda
It does seem to be unfair, that is what we pay council tax for. Larger properties are banded higher and possible have larger gardens so pay more but maybe create more green waste. However as the waste is supposed to be composted not land fill it is for the good. I think it is just a scheme to make money.  I cannot understand why small terrace house still get a great bit wheely bin, surely they should be asked if they need a smaller green bin, they take up so much room and must rarely get filled. There is no commmon sense
Hope your issues get resolve Borlotti. Once one person dumps it seems to give permission for others to do the same. Do not write about it though, keep you blood pressure down, just sending support!

[Chrispy]

I cannot understand why small terrace house still get a great bit wheely bin, surely they should be asked if they need a smaller green bin, they take up so much room and must rarely get filled. There is no commmon sense

All the bins are the same size in order of efficiency, different size bins would mean less efficient collections and higher costs.
Yes, inconvenient for some.

We have to pay if we want a green collection, but we can get darlek home composters at a subsidised rate, and the bags for the green waste have 'Use you home composter first' written on them, the message from our council could not be much clearer.

[jesssands]

we have wheelie bins here, but like many areas where I live the truck cant get up the road as it is too narrow. So we have a black wheelie bin to store our black bags in (which we still get from council) and put our bags out for the small truck on bin day.
I usually have less than a full bag so in the winter I use the wheelie bin to store logs in by the back door!
The green wheelie we cant have cos they cant empty it. If I take it to the main road, I can have one. But living at the very top of a 1 in 4 hill, not very practical. I could picture the scene it running off down the hill with me attatched !!
Seems unfair to be paying the same amount of council tax when I dont get the full service.