Council Tax

Health Care

Transport & Highways

Libraries

Rubbish Collection

Letters & Comments

HOME

RUBBISH COLLECTION

STREET CLEANING
The Council’s propaganda publication ‘Croydon Reports’ constantly contains claims that the borough is ‘cleaner, safer and greener’. The stated aim is to have streets that are among the cleanest in London within twelve months. Underlying this claim is the new cleaning contract awarded to Cleanaway. These statements will not impress residents of Monks Orchard that have to live in streets littered with tins, bottles, packaging, partially consumed hot food takeaways and dog mess that seem to have taken root on the pavements and in the gutters. The Street Scene Officers will tell those individuals that decide to complain that, under the new contract, the local streets are scheduled to be cleaned only once every four weeks. There are those residents that will come to the decision that this is a clear example of ‘paying more for less’.

On further investigation residents will discover that some residential areas within the borough are cleaned much more often, sometimes daily. MORA has found it impossible to find the reason for this blatant inequality in street cleaning and questions remain unanswered. Could it be that a political decision has been taken to clean favoured areas more often than others? Could it be that the amount of litter deposited determines the frequency of cleaning? If so, it follows that even more litter will have to be deposited if local streets are going to be cleaned more regularly.

This may appear a trivial issue but it is one that concerns residents who pay a large proportion of their income in council taxes to live in a clean locality. Recently, over one hundred residents in The Glade added their names to a petition to protest about the filthy state of their area. The petition was organised by Councillor Avril Slipper but the submission was ignored. MORA wrote to the Council in August asking for a copy of the cleaning contract and to enquire who was directly responsible for determining the schedule of cleaning that treats some areas more favourably than others. Having pressed for a response, to date, none has been received despite the claim that Croydon Council deals with enquires speedily.

COLLECTION OF BULKY WASTE
The withdrawal by the Council of the rolling rubbish collections as part of a cost cutting exercise has had an adverse impact on local residents especially those without their own vehicles to transport rubbish to the dump. An alternative to the rolling rubbish collections is the residential bulk collection service that will accept seven items, which are not suitable for re-use, from every household every twelve months. The service is free but if you wish to dispose of additional items or have an extra collection a small charge is made.

Items for the bulk collections can include furniture, beds, mattresses, small electrical items, such as toasters and microwaves and even unwanted pieces of timber provided it is reduced to a acceptable size and assembled ready for collection. To use the service phone 020 8686 4433 and ask for the Bulk Collection Service and guidance will be given on the arrangements for the collection of the items.

It should be noted that the service does not accept large domestic “white goods” including fridges, tumble driers, dishwashers, cookers (gas or electric) television sets, computer monitors that are now classified as hazardous waste and, as such, must not be sent to landfill sites but disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. These items have to be collected and processed separately and are included in a “white goods” collection service for which a charge of £15 is made. More than one item will be taken for the same charge so it might be worthwhile asking if a neighbour has any white goods that they wish to dispose of at the same time and perhaps share the cost. To use this service phone 020 8686 4433 and ask for the white goods collection service.

GARDEN WASTE
Residents have in the past experienced difficulties with the disposal of garden rubbish that is unsuitable for composting. A much-used practice was to disguise it and hope that it would be accepted with the domestic rubbish. It has now been confirmed by the Council that one bag of garden rubbish will be accepted along with the weekly domestic rubbish collection. So there is no longer any need to argue or to offer bribes to the rubbish collectors.

ROLLING RUBBISH COLLECTION NEWS
As you may have read in the local press, Croydon Council have cancelled the Rolling Rubbish collections for this year, as a cost saving measure. Croydon Council is really pushing recycling over the whole borough and they felt that the rolling rubbish was contrary to this.

We have been in contact with the Environmental department at Croydon Council, who has provide us with information on alternatives to the Rolling Rubbish Collection. A household can have one collection, once a year, of up to seven items. This can be arranged by contacting Croydon Council on 020 8686 4433, and asking for Residential Bulk Collection. Croydon Council will also collect other items at other times, but for a minimum charge of £20.00. Croydon also has a SWAP SHOP which is web based, where you put details of items you want to give away or swap for another items. NO MONEY MUST CHANGE HANDS. The address for the site is: http://www.croydononline.org/Giveaway/

MAKE YOUR GARDEN GREENER
Gardens produce plenty of waste, but composting provides a practical way of disposing of it in an environmentally friendly manner and generating a rich soil nutrient to be re-used in the process. Subsidised by funds from Central Government, Croydon Council is offering discounted compost bins.

There are a limited number of bins on offer at this special price, and only one application per household, so place your order today!

Order on-line at: http://www.getcomposting.com/croydon/index2.htm. Money-back guarantee.