Category: Communal bins

General Election candidates asked for their views on communal bins

At the most recent meeting of High West Jesmond Residents’ Association a strong majority of residents expressed opposition to the proposed introduction of communal bins.

The reasons for the opposition included:

• The ugliness of having large bins located in back lanes
• The increased likelihood of fly-tipping around the bins
• The inconvenience of having to take every bag of rubbish outside to a communal bin
• Reduced access to garages and the back lanes generally
• Possibility of increased crime as bins are used to gain access to property.

Residents’ Association made representations to council

The Residents Association has made representations to the council and specifically asked for the council to consult with residents on whether or not it is desirable to introduce communal bins in this area.

The council has so far refused to engage in any meaningful consultation with us and has stated they plan to introduce communal bins in all appropriate areas which, we believe, will include High West Jesmond.

We asked each of the candidates for Newcastle North to comment

Given this response from the council, we have written to all the candidates to be our local MP at the forthcoming General Election and asked them to outline their position on the issue of communal bins. Their responses are summarised below.

Duncan Crute (Conservative)

Newcastle City Council must conduct a thorough and detailed consultation with residents of High West Jesmond over the introduction of communal dumpsters. I am personally against the introduction of communal dumpsters for the following reasons:

1. The residents of High West Jesmond pay their council tax and are entitled to have a wheelie bin collection, just like other residents throughout the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
2. It has been documented throughout other cities that Communal dumpsters attract fly tippers. Thus creating an environmental problem to deal with.
3. The communal dumpsters smell bad, this in turn attracts rats, foxes and other vermin.
4. Pensioners in other cities have complained they have to carry bags and rubbish for long distances and then lift heavy lids to dispose of their rubbish.

Anita Lower (Liberal Democrat)

I am opposed to communal bins unless residents fully support them. They are causing problems in the ward I represent with fly tipping and mess. I cannot see any advantage in imposing these on residents apart from cutting costs and I have seen no evidence that they do cut costs.

Timothy Marron (UKIP)

No response received.

Catherine McKinnell (Labour)

I know that the proposed roll-out of communal bins by the City Council is causing a good deal of concern amongst many High West Jesmond residents – and that’s why I have sought to represent these concerns to the Chief Executive, the relevant Cabinet Member and officers both formally in writing, and in meetings.

I am particularly keen to ensure that local residents are properly consulted before any such changes are introduced, and that the outcome of this consultation is taken into account when any final decisions are taken on this issue. I do not want to see such changes simply imposed on local residents, and will therefore continue to press the City Council for meaningful consultation on this issue. 

Brian Moore (Putting North of England People First)

I am opposed to the roll out of communal bins. The collection of rubbish is the one basic service that every resident sees the council deliver for them. Given the level of council tax in the city, every household should be able to expect this service. Communal bins have already been introduced in parts of the west end of the city and Heaton. Despite their claims to the contrary, the council’s consultation with residents was next to non-existent. I have been told that the communal bins simply lack the capacity to deal with all of the rubbish. 

The council claimed that communal bins would make back lanes less cluttered but the reality seems to be different with complaints of bins not being collected for 3 weeks and letters from streets away turning up in the back lane. This, combined with fly tipping, has made life miserable for many local people. 

Alison Whalley (Green) 

Our guiding principles on dealing with waste is the 3 R’s – Reduce the potential for waste, maximise the capacity for Repair and re-use, and invest in proper and effective Recycling schemes.

More specifically this is our approach to the introduction of communal bins in appropriate  areas:

• The council should consult residents properly with an evidence- based approach. We definitely recognise that one size fits all is not a solution, but in respect of areas with back lanes the use of communal bins has been beneficial and litter problems have been reduced.
• Most importantly, communal bins are introduced only after proper consultation and with the agreement of the majority of the residents.
• There should be a good information campaign in advance of their introduction for the particular streets concerned and a repeat information campaign once the bins are in place.
• Bins for recycling designed in such a way as to take appropriate items and to minimise the chance of general waste going into them.
• Additional patrols for the first 4-6 weeks to ensure the bins are being used properly and to pick up any potential problems early.
• An active programme to replace damaged/ illegible bins.
• A repeat programme in the year especially at a time when new residents may arrive e.g. students.

Share your views with the cabinet member responsible for communal bins

High West Jesmond Residents’ Association will continue to attempt to engage with the council and would encourage any resident who feels strongly about this issue to write to the Newcastle City Council cabinet member responsible for this policy (Cllr Nick Kemp) at the following address nick.kemp@newcastle.gov.uk

Proposal to replace wheelie bins with communal bins

Newcastle City Council has issued documents related to its 2017-18 Budget which is to be voted on at a full meeting of the council on 1 March 2017.

You can read more information on the Newcastle City Council Budget 2017-18 page.

The main proposals are contained in a 44 page document called Newcastle 2020: Investing for a fairer future – Newcastle City Council budget proposals 2017-20.

Decent neighbourhoods aim

One of the stated aims (p12) is for decent neighbourhoods:

“Decent neighbourhoods: We will invest in housing suitable for all the city’s
residents including the most vulnerable; and maintain a clean, green and attractive city in which everyone shares responsibility for keeping their neighbourhood looking good.”

Part of this section goes on to say that:

Communal bins “where appropriate”

Further information on local services (p33) goes on to say:

“Newcastle produces significant quantities of waste – more per resident than some other UK cities. To address this we will develop a new waste strategy involving a fundamental review of how we reduce, process, use and dispose of the city’s waste. By working with communities to support people to produce less waste and recycle more waste, we will be able to make savings in costs of collection and disposal by 2020. We will also review our waste disposal sites and processes to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill, and look to commercialise waste streams wherever possible, contributing to our objective of becoming a zero carbon city by 2050.

 Collecting and disposing of waste from homes, businesses and public bins across the city takes up the majority of resources in environmental services. There is limited scope for further efficiencies through IT or changes to working practices. Our waste strategy will enable us to further improve efficiency and achieve better environmental outcomes by addressing both the quantity and type of waste produced in the city.

Newcastle City Council view

The Integrated Impact Assessment document (Feb 2017) says that (p10) “back lanes present a number of challenges for the refuse collection service”.

And that communal bins have already been implemented into “All of the relevant back lanes in Ouseburn” and “a number of back lanes in Benwell and Scotswood, South Jesmond and Wingrove” wards.

Newcastle City Council’s document states that “To date, feedback has been positive from local communities where communal bins have been inplace for some time”.

Residents fear rubbish will be even worse

A recent article in the Newcastle Chronicle however made reference to concerns from local residents where communal bins were already in the process of being imposed “a number of residents on four of the affected streets told the Chronicle on Wednesday how they feared the new bin policy would make the issue of rubbish “even worse” in the area” – read the full article “Wheelie bins across Newcastle to be axed in a bid to save cash” on chroniclelive.co.uk .

High West Jesmond residents view

A number of residents have already contacted us to voice their concerns at the council’s budget proposals for communal bins citing specific examples of ongoing problems in a number of back lanes in the pilot areas where Newcastle City Council has been testing communal bins (locations referred to above).

High West Jesmond Residents’ Association believes there should be a full consultation by the council with residents and communal bins should not be imposed where their is litte support for them.

 

Plan for replacement of wheelie bins with communal bins

Newcastle City Council has announced its intention to replace the current individual “wheelie -bins” with communal bins to the back lanes of High West Jesmond. These would provide one bin per every four houses.

City Council proposal

Further detail is available at the council’s website newcastle.gov.uk/environment-and-waste/rubbish-waste-and-recycling/communal-bins

It’s likely that the change would be implemented in Summer 2017 though this depends on the final council budget being approved.

Local opposition to communal bin proposals

There is already some local opposition to the proposals. Our local councillors in East Gosforth ward are against the proposal and have launched a petition at newcastle-libdems.org.uk/en/petition/no-to-communal-bins-petition

High West Jesmond Residents’ Association would be keen to get the views of local residents so that we can take a view of local opinion and, if necessary, make appropriate representations to the council and our local MP.

If you have any comments about the introduction of communal waste bins then please send feedback to us via the normal channels or via the Contact Us page.