Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Not sure if this was just a fluke this morning on Chesterfield Gardens, or whether this is a new Veolia time saving policy but ....

When the bins were emptied on our street this morning everyone's wheelie bins were left standing out on the road instead of being returned to people's front gardens as they usually are.  As it happens I left for work later than usual and was able to return my bin to the garden, but usually the bins are empitied after I've gone to work, and the bin would have been left sitting in the road until the evening. I guess this would be the case with a lot of households.

I can see that leaving the bins in the road saves Veolia time, but given that it blocks of all the parking spaces on both sides of the road for one day a week it doesn't seem like the best idea.  Plus does it mean Veolia are being paid the same to provide a slightly more rubbish (no pun intended) service?

Tags for Forum Posts: rubbish, veolia

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Not sure, but try:

Veolia Contact Centre
email: enquiries.haringey@veolia.co.uk
Tel: 020 8885 7700
Web:www.veolia.co.uk/haringey

I haven't been back to check wheelie bins, but my recycling box (Gardens) was left half on the pavement, half on the road this morning. 

I'd theorized that it was a passive-aggressive response to me leaving it on the porch (we have no lid to protect from rain) rather than out in the yard, like everyone else. But it hasn't happened before, so maybe something else is going on.

This happened to us one bank holiday monday and my husband hunted down the van and asked them what was going on? You would not believe the reply "someone must have done it after we emptyed them". He did try hard not to just laugh as clearly this was a big fat lie. We followed this up with both the contracts manager at Haringey and the Veolia people and I have to say that is has not happened again.

I would suggest that you contact both Veolia and Haringey as if you just contact Veolia, Haringey have no idea how poor the service that the residents get is. I am so fed up with their poor service that I contact Haringey direct (even though they don't like it) just to get complaints logged as I am not sure that Veolia either tell Haringey or care.

Grant Binnie at Haringey Council has addressed this and a few other problems with Veolia in the past.

My wife (posting as Frizzy) isn't quite right, it happened again just a few weeks back, and Mr Binnie was only too pleased to be informed so that he could address with Veolia.

If you have problems with bins not being returned from whence they came, left in the road, on your flower beds and so on, I suggest you call Grant Binnie via the council switchboard on 020 8489 0000. He is a very helpful man!

And no, Veolia don't have license to leave bins anywhere, they are categorically supposed to put them back, which they tend to conveniently forget at times.

Same on Umfreville Rd - I had to move one to get my car out as it was 'parked' right up against the front bumper.Not good enough.

And to return to paranoid tin hat scenario, it lets burglars know you're not home.

Many years when Haringey first contracted with Haringey Enterprise, the staff were leaving bins on the pavement. Plainly this suited them as it speeded up the waste collection work.

In those long gone days, ordinary mortal councillors sometimes met with contractors. So I was at a meeting when Haringey Enterprise explained how the contract stipulated they must return bins "to the curtilage" of people's homes. They believed this meant outside the garden gate. Fortunately, I knew a bit of law, and was able to give the news - bad for the contractors; good for Haringey residents - that "curtilage" means land inside the boundary.

I'm guessing the same legal conditions now apply to Veolia. In which case any Veolia staff not returning bins are trying to pull a fast one.

(Although of course I can't actually be certain since backbench nobodies like me are not permitted to approach the sacred grove from whence the all-knowing all-wise Leader directs the affairs of Haringey.)

Their contract clearly states that they must return the bins or recycling boxes/bags to the property. My husband managed to find this out and mercilessly complained every single time they didn't do this - they always return them to the right place now (I think our address has acquired a grumpy old buggers reputation with Haringey)

We, as residents, are not allowed to leave our bins out to create an obstruction on the pavements or roads. Neither are Veolia. Mine are always returned to just inside my property. One reason is that we are both registered disabled but I think the main one is my CCTV which was used against them to catch them out on a blatant lie whereby they went into denial and claimed that all my complaints were unfounded. It also caught out that loud, swearing Scotsman (the dustman, anybody remember him?) As he came down the road we'd hear him telling all his mates, (with very flowery language) to "Watch out, that old cow's got a camera watching us".

When was this, Madeline?

Oh, it was a few years ago now, pre Veolia (but mostly the same dustmen work for both). Lynne Featherstone took it up and showed the video to the council and Enterprise (?). Then it was featured in the Ham and High the following week. Gawd, that Scottish dustman absolutely hated me. Silly s*d came to my house to the front door to hurl some extremely verbal abuse at me. Maybe someone should have told him that the camera also recorded sound!  (His team had been shown the video so knew exactly where the camera was aimed and that the front door was not covered.)

" . . . a few years ago? "

I may be thinking of a different person, Madeline. But if it's the man I have in mind, he's been retired for quite a few years.

In my observation, Veolia is not just a different company but has a very different management approach. At both senior and middle levels they have thoughtful intelligent managers with fresh and welcome ideas. So if there's a problem shouldn't we at least try dialogue and making suggestions for improvement?

Rather than reading from the "Grumpy Old Buggers" script?

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

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