BRA Committee members met with the Council on the planned rollout of wheelie bins to the Brackenbury area.
When is this happening?
The rollout programme is likely to reach Brackenbury in ‘early Summer’ rather than May/June as last thought. The Council are taking time to work this through carefully, area by area, and this is taking longer than anticipated. Once underway, the rollout will be phased street by street across Brackenbury over several weeks.
The Council will tell you more when they are ready to announce dates
The Council will be communicating directly with residents about the process as the time approaches. They will explain their policy objectives and outline how they will be consulting with you and what choices will be on offer to meet the varying waste needs of individual residents and their properties. They will be leafleting properties in advance and attempting to contact residents directly wherever possible and they will also have drop in sessions for those seeking more information.
Contacting the Council in advance
At the request of a number of members we have explored an alternative approach with the council whereby residents would be able to advise the project on their bin preferences ahead of the rollout, but unfortunately the project is simply not resourced to accommodate this change in approach so late in the programme. The council is not able to give choices in advance.
Assessing properties
During the rollout, on the scheduled day of delivery, council officers together with the waste contractors will make an assessment of whether a property is suitable for bins and/or what size of bins may be most appropriate for that property. If the resident is present they will consult and agree this with the resident. If the resident is not available they will leave bins based on their judgement as to the best fit for a property.
They intend to enable residents to determine what bins best suit their requirements and to exercise appropriate choices for their properties. You will be able to easily swap bins for a different size if that is better for you or to ask for them to be taken away if they don’t suit at all.
A significant number of properties may not be suitable to have bins due to only limited external space being available. This will be made clear at the time. Residents in these cases will still be able to put their waste out for collection in plastic sacks.
Bin sizes
We have previously published details of the various sizes and dimensions of the bins which will be available. This link will take you to our previous update which (at the end) includes these details if you are interested in knowing in advance.
The smaller food waste bins may suit most properties, including those continuing to put waste out in bags, as they are small and require little space and have a carrying handle enabling them to be kept away from the front of a property until collection day if needed.
Trialling the bins
To help them meet their main objectives, the Council are very keen that residents should trial the bins at the outset to assist with identifying the quantity of waste they are generating and thus to identify the most appropriate bin sizes for their needs. Ultimately if a resident does not want to retain the bins and wishes to revert to waste collection in sacks then they will accommodate that too.
It appears that the scheme has been largely favourably received elsewhere in the borough and is having an impact as intended to reduce the costs of waste removal and improve the volumes of recycling including specifically that of food waste for which the separate small bins are being provided. These have been seen to prevent bag spillage and will enable our streets to be kept much cleaner which has long been an issue for many people.
Garden waste
The Council are working on this at the moment and anticipate being able to start a new garden waste removal service from July – it will be a chargeable service. They will be sending out more information on this very soon.
Food waste bins on the street
Some people may have read that the council have been trialling communal food waste bins on Askew Road for residents living above commercial properties with no outside space as an alternative to each having their own food bins. This may be extended to similar areas within Brackenbury if this initial trial proves successful.
How to contact us
If you have any further concerns about this please contact us on
streetscene@brackenburyresidents.co.uk
Brendan Smith
Streetscene Coordinator.