10 October (Part 1) - Bin abuse
Ever
since the pictures of overflowing and contaminated bins in Coptefield Drive,
Belvedere were published ten days ago
local Councillor Dave Putson (Labour) has been trying
to get some remedial action. He has asked me a few questions and been in correspondence
with the relevant Council department. Coincidentally or not the discarded
mattress and large pieces of cardboard have already gone.
It has been a long term problem, those who use the bins appear to have no
concept of segregating the different materials and it gets worse as new people
move into the flats which the bins are intended to serve.
The two yellow vans have stood opposite the bins for the past ten years
approximately. The fence was painted around them more than eight years ago and
the section behind the vans that could not be painted at the time may be seen in Photo 1.
Councillor Putson has persuaded someone in the Council to have the bins emptied
as non-recyclable waste which is a shame because some
of the content may be my own plastic bottles and cans all carefully washed. He
has been told that the flats management company, Centro Ltd, is responsible for clearing
the rubbish. Why a private company is responsible for taking away Bexley Council
Taxpayers rubbish from Bexley Council owned bins he did not explain.
The abandoned vans are more of a problem. Another Labour Councillor, Danny Hackett, tried
to get Bexley Council to remove them more than two years ago as he believed vans stuffed full of
discarded timber might be a fire hazard. His best efforts got him nowhere.
Knowing how Councils generally solve long term problems, I fear that Bexley
Council will simply take the bins away. It would be their customary easy way out.
