Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Angry at changes to waste service

I got my leaflet today stating that from October you have to pay £75 a year for garden waste collection. Further bulk collections will cost £25 for 4 items then £10 per item. If the dustman break your wheelie bin or you don't have one you have to pay £30.

I rang Haringey who transferred me to veola. Veola say it's Haringey council who decided they need to save 20 million for social care.

I am disgusted. I have lived in this borough for 53 years and all this is going to do is make people dump rubbish in the streets in a borough that has the worst fly tipping in England.

As far as saving money for social care, already the council tax bill went up to cover this. Haringey council should stop wasting money on other things.

I for one will not pay £75 and I suggest Haringey think again..

Tags for Forum Posts: garden waste, waste collection charges

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Permalink Reply by Don on July 14, 2017 at 18:50

Anka - "Optional" charge if you want the garden waste service, not a compulsory add-on to Council Tax. Veolia website FAQs say you don't have to pay for a replacement if your bin is damaged by their staff but there's nothing about the position if it's stolen, so the implication is that you do have to pay up then.

Bin FAQs at : https://www.veolia.co.uk/haringey/services-facilities/services-faci...

Garden waste FAQs at: https://www.veolia.co.uk/haringey/services-facilities/services-faci...

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Permalink Reply by Don on July 14, 2017 at 18:59

Having spent far too much time trawling the Veolia FAQs today, I've just unearthed (sorry...) this on the garden waste FAQ page (https://www.veolia.co.uk/haringey/services-facilities/services-faci...):

"Can I just book a Special Collection for my garden waste instead of buying a bin?
Yes you can book a Special Collection at the rate of £25 for up to 4 items and £10 per item thereafter. 5 standard sized bags, that are able to be tied and lifted without splitting, constitute 1 item. Therefore you can place out up to 20 bags for collection for £25. Each bag must be able to be tied at the top and lifted without splitting. Please click here for information on Special Collections. However, please note that you will have to pay this charge every time you want your garden waste collected and by choosing this option the waste will unfortunately not be able to be composted."

While this might be a better option for some people, note the sting in the tail: one-off collections won't be composted, so presumably go to landfill. How green is that?

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This page also says that a bin remains your property even if you cancel the collection service after 1 year (it just won't be emptied); I'm sure someone more entrepreneurial than me can see a secondary-market opportunity here....

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Permalink Reply by JJ B on July 18, 2017 at 4:09

Have you actually seen how often the stuff that you separate out is actually mixed up together by the bin men?

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Permalink Reply by Roslyn Byfield on July 14, 2017 at 20:20

It's clear the Council hasn't thought this through and anticipated the problems and ways people will find of getting round it. As a former boss of mine used to say 'This hasn't gone through a brain'.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel W on July 15, 2017 at 11:06

What an excellent expression!

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Permalink Reply by JJ B on July 18, 2017 at 4:10

Typical Haringey!

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Permalink Reply by Rachel W on July 14, 2017 at 19:30

This really cheeses me off. I haven't got room for a third wheelie bin and my green waste sack is always getting thieved. And how are we meant to budget for these things when we get one week's notice? We're not all on a fat LB Haringey salary.

The bulky item situation will be awful, this area's already fly-tip central. When I moved in we had a "community clear up" day annually when the council would take anything you left out. When they culled that they said it was okay, because they would still take a lot of stuff free of charge. Now I see they're reneging on that and actually charging more at £25 than most external companies. I realise that could be for several items, but I have never had more than one broken appliance / old mattress at a time.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on July 15, 2017 at 2:22

Rachel, your point about commercial charging by external companies is not one I've given thought to. But I should have done. How many people know to ask if a small business is registered to carry waste? How many people will trust someone, perhaps in good faith, and not know their rubbish will be dumped? I can imagine an sudden expansion in "helpful" man-with-a-van operations dumping in alleys, bushes and carparks.

It seems to me there's a general point here. That the more people share details of their particular situation and how these changes may impact on them and their neighbours, the more I realise that the plan has not been properly thought through. And the more likely it seems that there are unintended negative consequences which haven't been factored-in. Including the real costs.

And also I'd guess that the Leader and her "cabinet" are not really listening. They've taken a budget decision and are in their bunker trying to defend it.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on July 15, 2017 at 7:12

That's a really good point. I've been door knocked in the past, when I've had stuff at the front of the house waiting for collection, by someone with a van offering to take it away for a tenner or whatever. I've always said no as I know they'll just take it around the corner and dump. Those guys are going to have a field day.