A couple of weeks ago we received this email from a resident :
I am a disabled pensioner in receipt of income support. This week I
had a new kitchen worktop installed that was 3 mtrs long and I needed
to dispose of the old worktop.I telephoned the council for advise and was told that I could either
take it to the local tip or pay someone to remove it for me.I am not capable of taking a large item to the tip and I asked a man
with a truck to take it for me and he asked for ?20. I gave him the
money and he loaded it onto his truck. Soon after I went along my lane
and saw the worktop dumped on the verge.I then paid a young man ?10 to bring it back to my house. I am now ?30
down and still have the worktop.I then had to ask a neighbor to take it in their car for me to the tip.
I gave the neighbour ?20 to cover petrol and time.?50 is a huge chunk off my weekly benefit and I am disgusted how
disabled pensioners are treated in this borough.
We’d like to know who took 20 pounds of this pensioner and then dumped the worktop in a ditch.That’s fly-tipping, and it’s illegal.
We’ve also investigated this matter with the distric council, who told us:
I am sorry to hear of the difficulties experienced by one of your constituents when trying to dispose of kitchen work top. However, there are number of items that the Council do not collect and this does include kitchen units.
The Admin. staff do provide information on how items that the Council do not take can be disposed of and do suggest contacting Serviceteam if they would like to make a private arrangement when it it appropriate. It does depend on what questions are asked and staff try to be as helpful as they can but it is not always clear if it would be appropriate to offer the contact details for Serviceteam for the particular item to be disposed of.
However, we do have some new staff and have ensured that they are aware to pass this information on as necessary. My apologies if an error did occur on this occasion.
So the lesson is – if you want to get rid of a worktop or kitchen units, contact Serviceteam directly. We hope that the council are always passing this message on to any resident who enquires about this…