F@cking council!

[WillowPeach]

I swear it's run by blimmin idiots.

I live in a flat (1 of 6 in the building) and between all of the 6 flats, we have just 1 wheelie bin for the cardboard recycling and 1 for the plastic/glass etc. My OH requested that the council provide extra bins because they're essentially giving us the equivalent of what 1 household gets but we have to share between 6.

It's becoming a joke. The binmen have been round our estate this week and the bins which were already full to the brim have not been emptied. My OH phoned up the council to be told that he has to report it on their website, only we can't because they don't allow you to if you live in a flat. WTF?

We've been overflowing with recycling for so long, we'd been holding out for the binmen emptying them this week and finally being able to put ours in but obviously they weren't emptied. All in all, we have about 6 bin bags worth of recyling (I usually carry the reclying in a bin bag and then throw it away afterwards).

Today I'm in a bad mood and finally lost the end of my tether and dumped them all by the bins. I feel bad for the wildlife but wtf am I meant to do? I've had the 6 bags sitting in my bath for at least a week.

Isn't this what we all pay bloody council tax for? (well one of the reasons!)

Edith what axe would I have to grind? I can spot the type of customer that you are and called you out on it

You vote in the councillors who make the decisions on how the council is run - so if you don’t like the ways it’s run then vote for someone else. Or become a councillor and make those choices yourself

Than a hilarious you don't know anything about me I'm a random stranger on the internet. Calm down dear. Also I'm right. Especially as a council worker has come on and said "fuck you" says it all really

Ivy why be so rude? This issue is clearly something to get pissed off about. It's not like the OP is asking for the moon on a stick, just what everyone else in her street gets. One wheelie bin per dwelling! She will be paying her council tax down like everyone else.

Here is how much Tamworth borough council gets each year from someone paying band D council tax £171

And for that £171 they get all these services from Tamworth borough council
Parks
Election services
Homeless support
Environmental services
Planning
Waste & recycling
Collection of council tax
Supplying housing benefit

I have no affiliation with Tamworth - and it’ll be pretty much the same across the country

Divide that £171 by 8/ 9 services and you’re looking. at £20 quid a year for waste collection

As well as reporting it to the local council bin section and councillor responsible for rubbish (had to be very careful not to call them the rubbish councillor - unfortunately that can apply to all too many of them!) report it to the person responsible for the website and information/data/accessibility etc - if you're unable to report something online because you live in a flat but people who live in houses can report it with no problem then that's a problem with their website that needs to be fixed!

Also do you have a local parish council, as well as a local council? They can be useful in situations like this - they know who to complain to, and are more local so it's a problem that might affect them more too so good at helping out...

...

If the OP was threatening to flytip stuff I would understand the ire

creasing up with laughter that you think a councillor has a scooby doo how a council is actually run!!

Had a brilliant one the other day, this councillor was angry a resident wasnt able to get a service as quickly as they wanted.

This was a service i was told to cut by a third A THIRD, and you know what like a mug i delivered it - but the councillor thought that an IMPROVED service would be delivered with LESS staff and LESS money.

Answers on a postcard as to how that particular bunny can be pulled out of the hat.

Yes, a councillor is the person to go to if you arent getting the service you expect - but please be aware you are in a "poundworld" not "john lewis" in level of service.

[Edited by MNHQ at poster's request]

Hey biscuit,that was a very clear explanation of why everythings going to hell in a handbasket, we could all benefit from more of that instead of the waffle we get officially. Sorry we've got such a dire government and sorry they've ruined your job along with much else.

Edith whinge about bins, fine. But to say that generally council workers are all lazy is twattish

The petrol station attendant I had today mucked up the receipts. Should I say that generally, all people who work in shops and kiosks are thick? It's the same principle

If i can just please ask people PLEASE - just notice what has gone, and value what you have.

You have a system which picks up waste from your doorstep, most other countries simply do not have this!

Ive come to terms that absolutely nothing will change in terms of public services until there are riots and wide spread civil disobedience, striking will not work - generally people are far too self intrested.

If you want to know whats gone, it will be the libraries, anti social behaviour teams, pared down waste collection, pest control, childrens centres, youth provision, leisure centres, green spaces, street cleansing, dog wardens, out of hours services, customer services, opening hours, planning departments, building control, licensing, public protection.

Any external provider with contracts with a council - and many people on mumsnet would have been affected by this - would have been recommissioned, cut or cancelled.

If things take longer, go unanswered, or not done at all - its not through lack of care, its because we literally do not have the bodies to do it.

I think £75 per wheelie bin collection per month would probably be about right!
I'd be happy to pay more if I can pay for what I use only. I would be happy with far fewer collections than I currently have. I don't know how that would be managed though. Maybe fewer collections but people can pay for an extra bin? I understand that flats would need weekly food waste collections though.

cachaill it does happen, in an area i know of, you pay extra to have green waste collected. Lots of efficiency models have been looked at but bin collections are one area that have a huge visual impact. It would be miraculous to have a full suite of councillors who would back a re-work of waste collection to make it more cost effective.

Far easier to make efficiencies (cuts In service to save money) where people dont look or dont care, home help for the elderly, learning disabilty day centres, respite for carers.

Living in a block of student flats where no-one actually seems to understand the recycling system (or if they do don't bother to listen to it in the slightest) the recycling bins haven't been emptied for a number of months as they all are full of a mix of card, paper, plastic, glass, tins and whatever else might be recycled in one obscure corner of the country despite some only being for paper and cardboard and the others only being for plastic bottles, glass and tins. Just involves taking everything out the night the general waste bins are emptied and using them for it all.

timeforabiscuit where did I say that a councillor knows how a council is run? I said they vote for what happens within the council

I can’t believe people think that paying £20 a year is going to produce a decent waste collection service - it’s not, the cuts are never ending but people’s expectations are ever more demanding

As for the op wNting more space to put her rubbish - I agree with her, as one bin between 6 properties is ridiculous. I’ve given my views on how she can approach this and op thanked me

cachaill it does happen, in an area i know of, you pay extra to have green waste collected. That's what happens in our area too, I had thought it was fairly standard. I put the grass clippings in the in the compost bin and I take other green waste to the tip as I don't have enough to justify paying for a bin.

I'm sorry Ivykaty44, I was typing in haste and anger, my comment should not have been attributed as responding to you.

The problem can be that the over full bins are due to the bins not being emptied, we had this for 4 weeks.

8 flats worth of rubbish for 4 weeks. In the end we contacted someone from environmental health as the refuse department just made promises that they never kept.

Tbh I think any anger and frustration should be ultimately aimed at supermarket shops who produce goods with so much packaging without any regard for the cost of disposing

Timeforabiscuit no worries and thanks

Stop showing off, mary !

For anyone having waste collection cancellations, try to imagine yodel picking up your waste - only yodel have had the contract cut, so their staff just had a pension and pay cut, then the lorry breaks down.

Why would yodel give out more bins? They cost more money, and means more time collecting (and new bins arent in their contract anyway, and like any good business in tory land - you dont do things not in the contract).

However, the public, quite rightly, expect a public service - i work my arse off making that happen, so being called "bloody", "lazy" and "typical" isnt exactly motivating.

The uniformed services seem to have a far easier ride in the public eyes (quite rightly too, what they do is just downright dangerous, and getting worse), but local councils dont get that kind of sympathy - we dont expect any to be honest, weve cut care packages to the bare bone and unlike the private sector where youd get a big fat bonus for achieving savings - that kind of achievement sticks in the throat.

Im really proud of our local waste collection, its in house (so the council runs the whole service internally), they have moved hell and high water to get the routes done, ive seen them running up the streets when a lorry is down and theyve used an open backed truck to collect.
But I know that the resource and margins they operate in are tissue paper thin, I know we are on spend freeze so any spending is scrutinised for potential saving and i know trying to re-organise a bin route because of additional housing is a nightmare when the existing route is stuffed full, you cant get more lorries or more staff.

Please complain to councillors - but leave lazy officers out of it!

I second everything you say biscuit and frankly am astonished that council workers have kept on with working so well through the last few years of cut after cut. There's little point in complaining to councillors though, they're implementing cuts imposed by central government. Complain to MPs and make them worry about losing their jobs. Helps focus their attention.They work for us. Hollow laughter.

There was a segment I saw on TV last week about fly tipping.

No wonder this is happening if bins are not emptied.

What else are people to do.

I wonder whether the bin men are on one pay roll and tips are on another and fly tipping clearance people are on another.

Just seems false economy missing collections. It is not like the rubbish is doing to disappear. It we have to be cleared one way or another