Rubbish !
 

I am furious!
I am fuming!
I am incensed, irate, angry, seething, livid and damned near apoplectic !

I received a missive from HBC the other day, addressed to "The Householder". Isn't it funny how they can always remember my name when they want money off me, but at all other times it is just "The Householder ". Well it would be funny if it wasn't so revealing of the complete and utter contempt in which HBC and it's officers hold the electorate.

The point of the missive, is to inform me that the bin men, being sensitive overworked souls, really can't face having to drag a wheelie bin the few yards along the street to the bin wagon, the poor dears, and so I will not be getting a wheelie bin!
Instead it is proposed to issue me with eight coloured bags per month which I will have to keep indoors and drag to the end of the street myself, to "present" to the bin men on collection day.
Needless to say, the coloured bags were NOT delivered and the rubbish I put out in black bags, as usual, was NOT collected. Nor was my neighbour's rubbish. We now face another fortnight in the company of our rotting rubbish before the next scheduled collection, always assuming that the Coloured Bags arrive in time for it. Which I have little confidence will occur.

Is this really the right way to run a refuse service? And is "Service" really the right term to use in describing this latest imposture?


You know, I think, it would be easier and less of a pain in the backside if I just carried the rubbish to the tip myself. But I am not going to do that, because I pay HBC, out of my hard earned money, to do that for me.
Where else would you put up with such an appalling service. Can you imagine going into ASDA to ask for a loaf of bread say, and being told that yes, you could have one but you will have to bake it yourself, oh, and by the way, you had better clean up afterwards too?

And then, as if to add insult to injury, they have the bare faced cheek to plaster the top of their missive with the legend "1974-2004 30 years of service to the community". It beggars belief, really it does!

How much longer are we going to put up with this?

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Until you do something about it would be the simple yet obvious answer

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Oh! And it gets better, or should that be worse?
The cleansing department now admit that they have a fourteen day backlog for clearing waste. A backlog that they themselves have allowed to build up. Surely the way to proceed is to keep the bu**ers working until it is cleared up. This isn’t rocket science folks, it really isn’t that difficult!
But then HBC have to deal with the worst absenteeism record in the County. This following Britcliffes announcement that HBC is the envy of other local authorities. Which would be laughable were it not so depressingly and obviously WRONG!

And HBC’s Cabinet’s response to this crisis of Absenteeism?
Britcliffe: “This has been the subject of the widest consultation and there has been much discussion among everyone concerned”


Pity you didn’t think to consult me, Peter. I could have saved you the trouble.


“We need to recognise that we have had problems with absenteeism and that something needs to be done to solve it.”


So, you mean, you didn’t already know that? Or do you mean that having the worst absenteeism record in the county isn’t always a problem?
Readers will note here that the one thing he doesn’t say is “We had a problem, but it has been sorted out.”


He goes on, “ People pay their Council Tax and we are the guardians of that money. We have a responsibility to make sure we run as efficiently as possible.”


There are new guidelines to deal with this crisis which, we are assured, are “well drawn up and user friendly” and they are That what was a verbal warning will now become a First Caution and what was a Written Warning will now become a Final Caution.


Brilliant! Just Brilliant! Breathtaking! I am amazed!

It is audacious! It is simple! It is bold! It is Authoritative!


And it won’t make a ha’porth of difference !


So bear this in mind when you are surrounded by a sea of rotting refuse, HBC really care and would get around to clearing it up, if only they could persuade some of their workers to actually come in to work now and again. But they are doing their best!


It’s just a pity that their best falls so far short of everybody’s standards.
.
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Re: Rubbish !
 

>>Until you do something about it would be the simple yet obvious answer<<

It was a rhetorical question.

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It doesn't surprise me in the least A-b. I've had enough "rubbish experiences" of my own.

Don't be surprised if they threaten you with court action next for leaving black bags lying around.

As far as doing something about it - I think this is where Disident came in (although his subject was one of urban renewal it's the same principle). When you try to do something you are simply regarded as part of the problem rather than the solution.

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>>you are simply regarded as part of the problem rather than the solution.>>

Well they probably have that much right at least, my mother always said that I was a problem child!:cool:

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My mistake.. I thought you wanted to change the situation...

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May I suggest to anyone experiencing problems with the refuse fascists to take their bin bags down to the Town Hall and empty them in the lobby - take the mountain to Mohammed!

I haven't had the misfortune of any change in my bin collection protocol as of yet - can't wait. I'm all for recycling but eight different bags seems a bit much and to refuse to take black bin bags is just plain unhygienic.

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In the milnshaw area we received a letter stating that if we leave out black bags next to the bin we will be liable to a £50 fine. I am lucky because living on my own i dont have much rubbish, but some of my neighbours have lots of the stuff even after recycling.

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I am aware of black bin bags which are left out each week (in a wheelie bin area) not a million miles from my own wheelie bin and they are collected each week along with the contents of bins!

I still have to personally take plastic bottles to the tip for recycling because they won't collect them from here.

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Just like janet, I recieved a "naughty boy" letter from the council even though my rubbish is in the wheely bin and the bin is presented in the correct manner, with the handle sticking outwards. Guilty until proven innocent I believe they call it.

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Just like janet, I recieved a "naughty boy" letter from the council even though my rubbish is in the wheely bin and the bin is presented in the correct manner, with the handle sticking outwards. Guilty until proven innocent I believe they call it. It also states on the letter that the bins have been introduced as a direct response to residents requests to improve the cleanliness of back streets. I`ve asked a few of my neighbours and none of them remember requesting this. In fact most of them think the scheme wasforced on them!!

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I think "clean up the back streets" probably comes more under the heading of "bin men should pick up all the stuff they drop" rather than "please can we have a wheelie bin".

Every bin day there is rubbish in greater or lesser quantities blowing/wandering (depending on weather conditons) up and down Ormerod St & Willows Lane. The representative from council refuse department answers complaints with "I don't see how it can be" - If they want to see how it IS never mind how it can be they should come up and have a look. Give them their due, they did send a man in a sweeping vehicle one week but considering he swept on the road that still left an awful lot of rubbish on the pavement.

What do we have to do to ensure we don't continue living in a rubbish dump?

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D.I.Y, Thats the answer. There was a report in the Mail on Sunday this week that told the story of an area which had recently changed to a fortnightly refuse collection.
One particular lady home owner was so mad because she was filling her bin to the top and having to go to the tip herself to get rid of the rest of her rubbish before they were due to arrive, that she bought her own waste disposal van at a cost of £8000.00 and now goes round picking up neighbours rubbish for them! Any volunteers??? Oh, she got a grant of £2000.00 (can't remember who from) towards the cost of the van!
Maybe this is what the future holds for us all? A refuse van owned and driven by the community?:s_fmad:

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But where would we tip the rubbish? (I feel somebody about to say "on the steps of the council offices!)

We had enough problems trying to deliver a trailer full of rubbish to the Whinney Hill tip.:s_fear:

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To the person who took a point from my Karma due to my post on this subject - WHY? At least put a reason...or have you no sense of humour...its hardly offensive or controversial...I couldn't really care less about my karma score - but I do want to know why my post has upset you enough to be so petty and have a cowardly dig at me like you have done. What have I said that is any different in tone to what everybody else has said?

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I gave some karma the other day and it gave 3 so i presume mine takes 3 as well... so dont upset me :)

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There was nothing in my post for anybody to get upset or offended about :) I was just trying to make a humourous, tongue in cheek contribution to the thread - I am flabbergasted as to why anyone would want to take a swipe at me for that!:confused:

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Don't worry, guys.....I've just given you some Karma...........

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:eek: OOh what do you have to do to be able to give 3 points? When I give some it only goes up one!!

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Off the topic a little bit...but mine won't let me give or take from certain people!!! Not that I want to take anybodys away...I prefer just to give it to somebody who has made a good point or made me laugh.

If their post seems dumb or not humourous...I just ignore it!!

Nowt as funny as Folk!!!!

CJ...it might have been your reference to a profit (oohps I'll probably loose one as well!!)

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Cheers Tealeaf - but like I said its not the point that I lost one (big deal...its not like points win prizes) its the fact that I've supposed to have upset someone for absolutely nothing. If its the reference to Mohammed then whoever it is needs to severely check their head.

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If you are implying me you need to get a look at rules where it says I cant do any karma until I have 100 posts. I know the saying mountain wont come to ............

You are not Salman Rushdie writing Satanic Verses but even if you did I give you the right to say so. The post of mine got deleted where I said it causes more trouble for people keep saying cant do this or that it will offend. I said this country was known for free speach and that was good but sad now it is not so.

Today I read the paper Guy Fawkes night might offend Catholic people. How many hundreds of years has it not offended? Why suddenly does it offeend? Has any catholic said it offends? So what happens? People start to blame catholics if they cant have it when no catholic was offended. PC people again causing trouble when they say they are preventing trouble.

You said karma doesnt bother you so why complain? You have a lot of it.

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Busman's comment about the lady who bought her own bin wagon is interesting, but I wonder if that qualifies her for a reduction in Council Tax. You can bet your sweet bippy that HBC wouldn't give anything back if the same solution was tried here.

('Sweet bippy' is from an American tv comedy, I'm showing my age, I know. but I'm doing my best not to swear.)

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I read the same article but her local council's comment was that she was defeating the object which is to meet government targets of producing less rubbish.

When HBC brought up that argument with me I told them that the alternative which some people choose is flytipping and I was beginning to see the appeal of it myself!

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Ifty, you are amongst the last people I would expect to do something as snide and petty! I have explained why I'm a bit bemused by it though.

Still nothing in my area re:new coloured bins, HBC were distributing them in the Norfolk St/Burnley Rd region one month ago and as I'm only ten streets away I was expecting mine soon - fortunately (it seems from this and other threads) they haven't arrived.

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>>she was defeating the object which is to meet government targets of producing less rubbish. <<

Oh I see, so collecting four bags of rubbish once a fortnight is better than collecting two bags of rubbish once a week because that helps cut down on the amount of rubbish there is to collect. I can see the logic in that. Lets make the collection service so awful that people will have to take at least half their rubbish to the tip themselves, then when the Government ask how much we collected we can say in all honesty, and with our hands on our hearts, that it was only 50% of last years amount. Targets met, everybody happy, double gin and tonics all round!

I used to be cynical, until I found out that things really were as bad as I thought they were.

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Don't tell us about producing less rubbish - tell the manufacturers who package their stuff in three or four wrappings. What are we supposed to do with that - eat it? Mind you, some of the stuff they produce these days, the cardboard wrapping probably has more taste ...

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Well, theoretically you are supposed to recycle the cardboard in one skip at the tip, the paper in another, the plastic in yet another etc, etc - thus reducing the final amount to anything which doesn't fit into the recyclable categories.

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Yeah, I get the point, but surely it's simpler just to eat it?

What if you're elderly, can't cart rubbish around, don't have a car? I am all in favour of recycling, goodness knows I do enough of it with London beer, but this is getting silly.

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Presumably by the time we have all the necessary containers to segregate our rubbish at home we'll need twice the number of collections just to deal with them all (not to mention the limited space some of us have for storing the flippin things.

I can't eat it - I'm trying to diet.

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Q. And what are all these rubbish recepticles made of?
A. PLASTIC.
Q. Where does plastic come from?
A. From OIL.
Q. Where does OIL come from?
A. Mostly from the Middle East.

So now we know the real reason why we went to war in Iraq.

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And what else do we know about plastic - difficult and expensive to recycle, even if it can be done, and it doesn't biodegrade.

Good, innit.

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There was a prog on TV yesterday which involved the use of imitation slate tiles made from recycled plastic. Not that you can use them on house rooftops so that leaves you wondering "Why????????????????":confused:

They can also do park benches and fences - hey there's an idea Mez. :D The council can make you a fence out of recycled plastic. It should be more durable than wood too.

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And what's more, you can't paint on plastic - so no graffiti - sorted!

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actually ive seen some on the web made out of hard durable plastic, i dread to think wot the'yd cost.

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So - how soon can we recycle the Council?

And what colour box/bag should they go in?

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Put them in the dog poo bags with the stuff that's already there.

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I couldn't agree more Pendy. Over here every supermarket has a set of bins just before the main exit where you can unwrap your goods and leave the wrapping which is removed by the council (Stadt) on a daily basis.

The problem with this, is that there are so many people around the bins and so little space, and so much shopping (that's wrapped), that it takes ages to ditch the stuff. Still it's a better idea than takling it home and trying to get rid of it!

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Okay - we'll sort it out since the council can't.

The council can go in the green bags with the pythons. That will please the pythons as it will give them something to eat while they wait to be collected. It may not please the council, but who cares?

In the meantime, we can all rejoice by drinking lots and giving the binmen plenty of cans and bottles to collect (if the poor wee souls are well enough to do so, of course). Perhaps we should organise sick-visiting for them all? - except I don't fancy spending hours in the bookies or on the golf course!

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Just came accross this one from a Mr. Barry Beezelbud (pen name I assume):

Its reall funny (or so I think!)


THE DEVILS ADVOCATE (with apologies)

MUCH CONSTERNATION at Beezelbub Mansions. Those jobsworths on the local council have suddenly issued us with a green wheelie bin and simultaneously informed us that, in future, our black bin will only be emptied once a fortnight. They've got to be joking, right?

The first problem is finding space for the two big bins along with an existing recycling box. It's not an issue for me, of course. We can soon convert one of the empty kennels into a bin store, but how are poor people who live in terraced houses or flats supposed to manage? Have a spare teenager press-ganged into the navy? Sell a superfluous baby?

And then there's the rate at which we produce household waste. Our bin was emptied on Friday morning.

It's now Tuesday evening and it's already almost full. I wouldn't mind but we were away for the weekend.

We already do our bit for recycling. Every bottle, of which there are many, is recycled. Every newspaper, of which there are also many, is also recycled.

The council won't let us put organic waste like vegetable peelings into the green bin and they seem unable to recycle plastic bottles, so what is a man to do?

I'd have Whittaker (the man servant) wash out the things (amazingly a bargain £5 at Tesco) but they won't collect them. (With redundancy imminent, he's already collecting all the little bits of soap left in the 14 bathrooms, melting them down and making new bars out of them that he then sells at the farmers' market on Wednesday mornings. ) I'd bring home less packaging, but the girls in Waitrose get snotty if you tear the cellophane off the avocados before taking them to the till. The Oxfam lady already collects our old jumpers and sends them off to hungry kids in Equatorial Africa.

(Quite why, I don't know. The last thing you want in a drought-ridden desert is a Fair Isle sleeveless cardigan.) One thing they will allow in the green bin is "unwaxed cardboard".

What on earth is unwaxed cardboard? Mrs Beelzebub and myself spent fully 40 minutes the other night discussing the waxalicious attributes of an empty cereal box. I thought it was unwaxed; she begged to differ. In the end we threw it on a bonfire with all the other cardboard in the bin.

You could see the thick black smoke for miles.

I know where this will end. By Saturday morning I'll be loading up the excess black bags into the boot of the five-litre Range Rover and driving them the seven miles to the council tip - at a climate-threatening 17 miles to the gallon, and while pumping out enough carbon monoxide to bring on asthma attacks in several small children.

Just don't blame me when Norwich disappears under the sea and Hurricane Angus devastates Glasgow.

SO YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES WITH A PROBLEM!!!

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It sounds very much like John Waterhouse. :)

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It does sound like him of old. But this one's from the West Country!!

He does a weekly article, all very, very, funny (or I think so)

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Dont Tell Me About Hbc.they Have Left My Bin A Few Times The Rubbish Just Piled Up So I Rang Up To Complane And They Said Yes U Guessed Ur Bin Wasnt Prosioned Propley So I Sai D Oh Yes It Was And If Sumone Dosnt Cum Out Dam Soon I Will Tip All My Rubbish [[[[[[[[dirty Nappies ....... Used Towels And Any Other Revolting Things U Can Think Of ]]]]]]] She Said Oh U Cant Do That So I Said Watch This Space If No One Cums Im Also Going To The Papers Guess What They Emteyed It The Same Day And I Never Even Rearanged My Bin Lol.oh And I Will Just Say One More Thing They Say Present Ur Bin Propely But When They Do Emty Then They Just Leave All The Bins All Over The Place Why Cant They Put Them Back Where They Found Them .its One Law 4 Us And Another 4 Them ....rite I Can Take A Breath Now Lol Annee

Re: Rubbish !
 

I have a suggestion. Why not scrap the recycling scheme for residents, transport the waste to Whinney Hill and there young offenders working their community service can sort the rubbish out for us!!

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Why not have them following the bin men round with brushes and bags so they can collect all that is dropped too?

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Is he Keith Waterhouse's brother Willow?? ;)

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:p I meant Keith! I thought it didn't sound quite right at the time.

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At the risk of making you all want to scream yourselves sick and bang your heads repeatedly on sharp corners, I came across this the other day:


" In 1914, the mileage was 44, (miles of streets) and the number of men carrying out the work of street cleansing was 26, including a foreman. Although more than 12 miles have been added to the area...since 1914, the number of hands remains the same....
...Our main shopping thoroughfares are swept daily, five miles of main roadways are swept three times weekly, whilst the remainder are attended to not less than once weekly, principally by hand sweeping."

So that is 26 blokes cleaning every street in the borough at least once a week - SWEEPING BY HAND!

"Street sweepings are mixed with manure from the public abbatoirs, certain market refuse and with fine dust screened from household refuse, the resultant compound producing a manure which commands a ready sale amongst farmers and others within a radius of five miles..."

In 1900 a destructor works was installed at the end of Argyll Street on the site where Pilkington Buses now have their depot.

"It may also be of interest to learn to what extent various forms of salvage and the utilisation of the residuals are carried out by the department:
Fish Meal £1,220 16s 6d
Baled Scrap Tins £288 11s 8d
Baled Waste Paper £232 2s 1d
Tar Macadam ££107 7s 10d
Baled Bagging, Carpets and Rugs £49 16s 8d
Street Sweepings £46 5s 10d"
And so on for Light Scrap Iron, Rags, Cast Scrap Iron, Scrap Lead, Glass, Fat, String, Bones, Scrap Brass, Hair, Mortar, Clinker. In addition to all this, the destructor furnaces were connected to the Electricity Company, who contributed £800 to the total realised from this primitive form of recycling of £4,921 13s 6d. for the year ending Dec 31 1927. Which was used to relieve the Rate.

This is from the Borough Jubilee Booklet published in 1928.

This is what it used to be like, when Councillors and Council Officers knew what they were doing and ran the town for the benefit of it's residents instead of the benefit of it's parasites.

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I'm past screaming about the filth and the council's attitude towards it these days.:rolleyes:

I remember my Dad saying that when they had pet rabbits or anything which died they took them to "the destructors" for incinerating. That was the place at the end of Argyle St.

I wonder how many street cleaners/refuse collectors are employed these days?

Has anyone ever seen the grates being cleaned out lately? It used to be a regular occurance when I was a child but I haven't seen one for years.:(

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Ah! the destructor, or dizzy as it was locally known. A great play area ( after work hours of course! ) and very useful if you needed a replacement knob for your gas cooker. We had a drawer full of `em

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And now the problem raises its ugly head with myself.................

I have 4 people in my household and 1 wheelie bin , then theresa the recycling bit this would be ideal if the recycling wagan fit down our ave. after six weeks of a full blue box we rang the council only to be told to throw it in our rubbish as the wagan cannot fit down the street. GOOD EHH!!!

Now we have a fornightley wheeley bin collection wich i have been told not to recycle so I rang for an extra bin NO CHANCE as this would meen that Britcliffe would loose some of the vast amount of money he can claim. So I offered to buy an extra bin from the council again NO POINT as the bin men would only collect the 1 they are contracted for at wich point I am told that if I leave any black bin bags outside i will be fined £50.00 (cheaper to buy a bin me thinx.) Not to be dismayed I then ask for permission to use the tip in my minibus and yet again NO NO NO !!!

THE OVERALL ANSWER IS PAY YOUR MONEY AND GET F**KALL FOR IT

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I'd love to know exactly what they expect you to do with your rubbish - I know what you'd probably like to do with it.