Today was not a good day for the new recycling scheme. The recycling hotline apparently had so many calls it was almost in meltdown!
For our part, we received quite a few messages from Rayleigh residents in roads like Brooklyn Drive, Teignmouth Drive and Torquay Close.
Their old collection day was Thursday, and they had not received the information pack telling them their new day was Monday. So when the dustmen arrived this morning there weren’t many bins to collect…… 🙁
We understand that the council is trying to arrange an extra collection on Thursday this week, to help these people – but that’s not confirmed yet.
What’s worse is that one resident in Brooklyn Drive emailed to say that he had finally received his information pack this afternoon – and in big letters it said that his day was still Thursday. He had tried to phone the hotline but couldn’t get through.
We really hope that recycling is going to succeed and that these are only teething problems. But we have to say – if this had happened at the end of April the ruling party on the council could have lost a few seats!
Am pleased to say our bins were emptied today without any problems.
So was mine Corey, however I have to say a work colleague of mine, who lives in Hatfield Road and usually has his bins emptied on Thursday’s did not receive an information pack and did not see any bins on the pavement and happily went to work in ignorance, not knowing his bin day was today! (until I told him) and with two young children still in nappies!!!!!…
The poor fella – he should go to the council and kick up a stink!!! Sorry! couldn’t resist!
At least Corey is happy, we in Everest and the surround are not.
We have not received information packs yet therefore the dustcart turning up on the ‘wrong’ day caught a lot of people out.
Not a good start!!
COMPLAINT: No resident in Louis Drive East has recieved the information pack yet, and the collection happened yesterday. No person in the street had put there bin out therefore no-one had it emptied.
Have tried countless times to call the recycling Hotline to no success.
Green bin is full with grass clippings, pond weed and food scrappings, we now have a family of flies living on the lid.
Although I really want this to suceed, I have only seen failure so far.
Can anyone help with the information pack and arranging another possible collection Help!
Well our bins were collected, but, the wheels fell off several of my neighbours bins, including my Mums!!!!!!!! so beware when you next put your bins out as it is not easy fixing the wheels back onto a full bin.
Very cheap bins, wont stand up to the worse handling rough weather etc like the others have, I think my old grey bin is about 17 years old now, not bad going but when wheeling my new one noticed it had a tendancy to lean away from the wheels and would easily tip over when full.
Same comment as Downhall Resident, my wheels fell off and even a thump with a rubber mallet won’t lock them on. I’ve told the council my rubbish (non-recyclable) will be in bags out the front in 2 weeks time unless I get a working bin because I’m not dragging it. They’ve emailed me back to say I’ll be getting a new one in a couple of days from SITA.
ours were emptied with no apparent problems. However when our information packs were delivered I watched appalled as 2 young men walked along the pavement and threw the packs into front gardens ‘frisbee style’. I did telephone Rochford council and report this who said they would deal with it. Dunno how they dealt with it because they certainly didnt get the young men to come back and deliver them correctly, it was me who went round to my elderly neighbours and picked up their packs for them because they wouldnt have been able to bend down to get them themselves!!!!
Still waiting for the info pack to arrive in the far outposts of Bedloes Corner!
Have to say that although no-one was aware of the new Monday collection, the bin guys must have realised and walked into the front gardens to collect bins that were not at boundary edge. A good bit of PR for the new company, as a lot of us along here are not able to go rushing after them with a wheelie bin in tow.
Seemed strange having two dustcarts turn up within an hour of each other too!
BB
Eastcheap Resident – Thanks for this information – that’s treating residents very shabbily.
I have spoken to your Lib Dem ward councillors Chris and June Lumley and we will be taking this up with the district council at a senior level.
My bins were emptied as well today and when walking home had to walk in the road as every bin was way out on the pavement (think they had only just been emptied) My information booklet said they would be returned to peoples boundaries, bit off for people out all day with their bins on the pavement all day.
I cant understand it either as I was really good at wrapping all my food up this time in biodegradable plastic bags and then newspaper to try and keep my bin a bit clean but when emptied it was very sandy inside (strange) and quite dirty.
Betty, the contractors should return bins to peoples properties, not least , to protect blind persons from an obstacle course! Which road was this?
Too often the bins are not put back to where residents leave them, but haphazardly thrown into the entrance of driveways. My neighbour and I look out for each others bins but if we are both out we have to get out of our cars and move the bin. A dangerous situation on Rawreth Lane, especially when your driveway is close to a centre of road keep left obelisk!!!
I have to say, the wife and I had a good laugh when we read that the bins would be put back on our property. My wife says it’s a real obstacle course when she walks my daughter to school on collection day. On occasions bins are also left on their sides, and once I found our bin leaning against my car.
I haven’t checked the bins for electronic devices yet, but it would be impossible for such a weight checking system to work as the bins can end up back in front of anybody’s house by the time the bin men have finished, even with your house number painted large on the side of the bin.
I endorse the comments of Betty, Greenbelt, & ST1. I dutifully placed the appropriate bins at the edge of our property, but they were not put back there! In fact one of the bins was several feet away from our house.
Another problem has been the purchase of a caddy & plastic bags. Most suppliers ran out of stock well before Sunday. As for the cost of the weelie bin bags, words fail me! £2.99 for 3? I think not!!!!
If we can’t get through to the Helpline where do we go for advice? My elderly neighbour asked me which bin the contents of the hoover goes in? Will it be non-recyclable if it’s in a bag, & compostable or non-compostable if not bagged? If anyone has the answer please let me know!
I am very much in favour of recycling, but it does need to be user friendly!
If we are expected to obey “the rules”, then RDC & Sita must do their bit too!
With reference to the survey form, “How clean are our streets?”, I sincerely hope that every household will take the time & trouble to complete one of these, sent with “Rochford Matters”. The Council will then get a TRUE picture of the feelings of the citizens of the District, regarding litter, graffitti, etc.!
Janet – In the days when I had a larger garden and therefore had a compost bin, the contents of my vacuum cleaner always went into the compost bin – it is after all mostly dust, which in turn is skin and dander and therefore compostable. If your neighbour has the old fashioned paper bag, that again is compostable.
Is there anybody that still hasn’t had the envelope drop giving them their collection date? I was a little shocked when I got home from work today to find yet another envelope with the same info in it as the one I received last Thursday. A waste of the councils time in dropping again in Coppice Gate, and a waste of space in my wheelie bin!
ST1, every bin has it’s own unique serial number and I am sure the delivery people were recording each number to the address delivered to.
Corey, I also had a second pack delivered today. the only good points about this is that we get a few more free bags and RDC get a few extra grams of recycleable material to add to their target weights.
Re bins being left in the middle of pavements, our MP’s garden waste bin has been in just that position since Monday. Does that tell us something?
well one of my neighbours wont put the bins outside her house, and moved them further away to another spot up the street, when I asked her why she said she had a car in her drive, NOW is it possible that she is so busy driving around she fails to see that other people use their drives for cars as well and they have managed somehow to squeeze their bins at the side.
1st day was always going to be a nightmare as nothing is ever organised properly in this country. Once people know dates and what goes where it should calm down. HOWEVER, the council and it’s workers do have to keep to their side of the bargain – supply quality bins and provide a good service – returning bins to properties. It’s not rocket science.
1st day a nightmare, oh come on how many years have we had the old black bins now, our bins are still left on pavements and a trip to the end of the street sometimes to try to find your bin yet we all have quite big numbers on them. Will be even more nightmarish in the winter when the winds get up with the flimsy bins I have. My Yellow lidded new bin is very top heavy when full up,
I have to say (and I am probably being a bit of a snob here), but the downside to having 3 bins is that for those too lazy to wheel them round the back of their houses, it does somewhat make the appearance of a road somewhat unwelcoming!!
Problem with new build houses, is that the gardens are far too small to put 3 dustbins in!
Perhaps the council might want to consider this when they receive plannin applications for multiple dwellings and ensure there is a bin storage somewhere?
Yes quite agree with you there, think all new houses should have the adequate storage to keep 3 bins.
It is a little unfortunate for some of us that we cannot put any sort of bin around the back in our gardens, for some people its not laziness its lack of access to the back garden. I would love to put mine out of sight, unfortunately it cant be.
A number of people have mentioned “Rochford matters” – I’ve never seen one of these – how do you get one?
TWR, Rochford District Matters is the council quarterly newspaper – they should deliver one to every home…..
You can download old copies at http://www.rochford.gov.uk/rdc/main.asp?page=721
If it’s not being delivered to you, phone the council!
Well we had our first “recyclables” collection today. We had so much we put out the blue bin as well as per the information pack…..
….which they took as well. So now we have no blue bin.
Did I miss something? Has this happened to anyone else?
My wife noticed that the chaps collecting our bins yesterday were opening the lids first to take a look inside. Is it policy to check the contents? Can we expect the fines to start being issued soon for a mistakenly placed piece of packaging?
ST1, that’s probably how the council are going to fund their rises!!
I wish they would look inside after the bin has been tipped. My green waste bin was still half full, or should that be half empty. Surely the weight would have given them a clue.
ST1, could be they are just checking if there is anything inside the bin.
I think it is reasonable for the staff to check in the bins to see if the right stuff has been placed in the right bin. Especially in these early confused days!
As far as I know, there are no plans for fines!
My favourite story so far is from my neighbour who tells me on collection day she put out her composting bin with no more than a few onion and garlic scraps. The collection crew didn’t take her bin, when she asked why she was told, “it wasn’t enough”. The scraps had to wait another week making the bin smelly in the hot weather. The moral, make sure you fill your bin with at much as possible…if you have it!
Two of my neighbours have had pink warning stickers attached to their green bin. The warning is that if you put something in the bin which is classed at not compostable, the bin will not be collected in future. That is obviously why the men are peaking into the bins before emptying them. So be warned, or you could get a little pink sticker telling you you have been naughty!
My compostable bin will be walking to the lorry on its own at this rate. It smells absolutely awful – at least before we could wrap our food waste so that prevented unpleasant odours.
I certainly cannot afford the fancy decomposable bags – that do not fit in my new recycling bins (£20+) anyway – that is if I could find a shop that sells them!!
This recycling lark is proving to be mighty expensive?
We are at least having our bins emptied. I am at the moment using the bags because I had some bought for me but wont be when they run out, I also wrap the food waste in newspaper as the bags are vertually useless unless they are almost empty and to try to drop one in the deep bin is almost impossible without all the food coming out. Anyway the state my bin is in, even though everything is wrapped is disgusting, I really dont know why its in a smelly mess. I think when my bags run out I will just put my food in as it is, after all thats what happened before plastic bags.