Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The purple bags of doom
I've just seen, from my window, an elderly neighbour add her own little bit of rubbish to a growing pile, nestling behind two purple Veolia bags that have been sat there since Monday morning.
So far, two black bags of household waste, no doubt from a frustrated resident whose bins are overflowing due to this week's non-collection, and a plastic baby bath have been added to the purple bags of doom and are making for a charming view for the local kids on the way to school.
I've reported it, of course, and I've filled in that bit that is supposed to go to enforcement which asks if we know who has dumped the rubbish, suggesting they go talk to Veolia.
I'm sure if I complain now, I'll get the same standard reply about snow disrupting everything but this problem with the bags happens whatever the weather. Moreover, their operational system must be extraordinarily fragile if one snowfall can continue to disrupt 8 days later, suggesting poor management, or perhaps, understaffing.
So why does it matter if they leave the purple bags of doom out for a couple of days?
Well, one of the main reasons is that they are reinforcing the 'third way' of getting rid of your waste. The 'a bit more doesn't hurt' mindset comes into play since it is clear that eventually a van will come to pick up the bags. In the meantime, people going past add their litter, people with a bit too much in their bins pop a bag in the street. The message is that actually it *is* okay to leave your rubbish in the street: "If they do it, how can you tell me not to?"
It sends out the wrong messages . Often, bags are left by the bin next to the infant school or by the kerbside near the passage. Hey, kids don't leave your rubbish in the street... unless you are a grown up in a hi-viz vest with a logo on it, then its okay.
It's an eyesore that can often turn into something worse if the bags get ripped open (see Ant's photo below) and mess scattered again, undermining the work of the street cleaners.
It undermines Veolia's commitment, made to secure the contract from the council, that they will reduce dumping in the borough. Their own faulty operational system means that rather than making good on this, they are adding to the problem.
It is an ongoing problem that no one seems to take seriously because they are not interested in tackling the mindset of why people dump but appear to be running to stand still in order to implement a system that it is not clear is working at all well. It was done by Enterprise with their green bags and it is done by Veolia with their more highly visible purple bags. The system is not questioned despite problems with it being identified for years. If anything Veolia are slower at removing the bags than Enterprise were and overlook them more often.
Is this a problem just in Harringay? No, a straw poll suggests that it is borough wide and constant, so can't be blamed on weather, individuals, bad days, broken down vans. It is the system that is at fault and it is the system that needs to be changed, or at the very least improved so that the undertaking to remove purple bags within a few hours of them being deposited by street cleaners is rigidly adhered to.
Tags for Forum Posts: dumping, purple bags, rubbish, veolia
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ant on
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The purple bags do seem quite slow to be collected these days.
These ones have been outside North Harringay Primary for at least a couple of days collecting other bags and now being ripped open by a dog or fox overnight for kids to step over on the way to school this morning:
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Petition called for to have Veolia Environnement's Antoine Frerot, Louis Schweitzer and Francois Louis Andre Bertreau sent down to Mali to clear up after Al-C's destruction of Timbuktu. They'd be very good at restoring all those 12th century manuscripts.
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Permalink Reply by VIX on
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All the pile needs is a mattress and a tyre and you have full house!
You should see the pile by Bruce Park its been there for months, ive given up calling and reporting it.
Ill post it...the council claim on a poster campaign in Tottenham to have 'Delivered' on their 2012 promise to tackle grime!
Vix
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Here is one of the many fly tipping zones in Tottenham that the council are leaving for months on end despite my efforts sending in photos and location. Some one dumping tyre around our neighbour hood too.
Maybe if it said No Rubbish instead of No Parking?
Vix
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Here is one of the many fly tipping zones in Tottenham that the council are leaving for months on end despite my efforts sending in photos and location. Some one dumping tyre around our neighbour hood too.
Maybe if it said No Rubbish instead of No Parking?
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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
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Liz, I noticed the pile of purple bags and rubbish on Warham yesterday and reported it. I have been trekking round the ward this past few days and I am staggered about the amount of purple bags which have been there for a day or more and also the amount of bins that are overflowing. I did raise the issue with Cllr Canver last night after the GLSG meeting. It is quite ridiculous that they are still behind when we have been clear of snow and most of the ice for a week. I will continue to raise it until I get a satisfactory explanation.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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So if you reported it yesterday, I should expect it to be cleared today. I also put a report in today.
This is poor. Enterprise at their most useless still managed 24 hours or less pick up time for fly tipping. Thanks for raising it and carrying it forward. At present, residents complaints are getting the snow excuse, which is no excuse.
p.s. Bags are frequently left for days by South Harringay schools as well.
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These bags were cleared this afternoon presumably because of getting two reports, however bags stacked up at the school and by the bin on Seymour were not cleared. One begins to wonder whether there is any system at all for these bags beyond residents reporting and sheer luck that they spot them when they drive around.
Jane makes the point here that a van sent to collect a dumped mattress then drove past some broken shelving. Presumably if they are not on the jobs sheet, the dumped items don't exist. Oh for some enlightenment on how this system works...
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We have a nice pile of purple bags building up with other residents adding to it on Lausanne Road.
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I posted a picture on Twitter of the Lausanne road mess and directed it @haringeycouncil. They told me they had passed on the message and it had been cleared this afternoon when I walked past.
To anyone suffering the purple bag menace please report it and make it clear that the purple bag has been left overnight. I took 7 pictures of bags left on different roads this morning. Lausanne's was the worst but there were bags all over the place.
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