Harringay online

Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hi Everyone [click here for the direct link to the petition].

The recent changes to Haringey's waste service have been well documented on this site in recent days.  To recap, these include charging for garden waste collections, replacement bins (unless damaged by Veolia) and bulk collections.  If you're familiar with the context, then please feel free to head straight to the petition here. NB... Per Michael's comment please scroll to the end of the next page on the petition site to register your signature.

If not, then read on... Charging for these services isn't uncommon in London - a number of boroughs now do so.  However, the basis and evidence case that Haringey Council have used for this is questionable.  Papers presented to council members for the Medium Term Financial Strategy (of which this forms part) shows the impact assessment of these changes on residents.  There are seven potential negative outcomes on residents identified in Council decision papers as a result of implementing these changes.  These are:

  • An increase to fly tipping
  • Increased use of Recycling and Reuse Centres (one of which I believe is earmarked for closure)
  • A decrease in overall resident satisfaction
  • An increase in side waste
  • Discouraging recycling
  • An increase in stolen bins

You can see the assessment here. No single positive outcome to residents was identified.  For the council, a positive benefit of £775k in year one, dropping by 30% in year 2 to £525 suggesting the sustainability of these proposals is poor.  In order to implement the changes, the Council will be investing at least £150k (IT systems, comms etc).  Furthermore, no evidence was presented that a saving will be realised on the Veolia contract due to the reduction in scope.

Given the issues of fly tipping across the borough continue to gather pace, the council have had evidence provided to them that these changes will only serve to increase the problem.  Personally, I don't find that acceptable.  Things are pretty bad as it stands (example view of a local road today attached).  If you agree, please do take a couple of moments to sign the petition by clicking on the link at the top.

Could I close with a small favour to ask?  If anyone knows any means to spread this petition to other community sites, blogs etc in Haringey, please do so!  Thank you for reading.

Tags for Forum Posts: waste collection charges

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Sorry...but this is nonsense. I already pay council tax. I produce very little other waste since I tend to buy stuff with little packaging and I do compost. However from time to time I have stuff that can't be composted. I refuse to pay more just because I have a garden and the council has decided to apply its usual crude measures due to national budget restrictions.
I have become rxtremely angry. I just do not care that these people in charge...make these decisions. Brexit as well has me flipping mad. No more attachment to this place that doesn't want us foreigners.

Until I leave I will dispose of my garden waste in a bin and I won't pay another £££ for it. I DO NOT own a car!!!

Stupid inept Haringey!
Reminder that this is being considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee tonight (16 October) at 7:30 at the Civic Centre. Item 5 on the agenda so first item of business after minutes etc.
https://www.minutes.haringey.gov.uk/documents/g8349/Agenda%20fronts...

There is an article today in a newspaper which purports to set out facts about relative levels of fly tipping in councils with and without charges. If these could be verified perhaps one of the activists could get them in front of the scrutineers. If they are accurate, then there are the further consequences of anti-social behaviour in areas that look like rubbish dumps.

Council charges to collect bulky household waste are responsible for an increase in fly-tipping, new figures suggest.

The majority of local authorities charge households to pick up their garden waste and unwanted items that are too big to fit in a wheelie bin.

Across England, the number of fly-tipping incidents reported by councils have risen for three years in a row. But Nottingham City Council, one of the few that does not charge for bulky waste, said there had been a 42 per cent fall in fly-tipping rates in the city since 2013.

The authority said its free collection for large items ranging from furniture to televisions was a “major factor” in the reduction of items being dumped.

As councils have faced increased financial pressures, many have introduced charges for bulky or garden waste collections, which at one time might have been free.

Three-fifths – 60 per cent – of local authorities with responsibility for rubbish collections impose costs for picking up waste from the garden, with charges of up to £96 a year for a bin collection service, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

More than nine out of 10 councils charge for collecting bulky waste, with prices varying dramatically from just a few pounds for a single item to more than £100 for a number of bulky items. Only a small number said they did not charge or offered a number of free collections a year before charges kicked in.

A Nottingham City Council spokesman said there was an “immediate” reduction in fly-tipping when it brought in free waste collections in 2013. Residents simply make an appointment for collection, so it is picked up at a planned time and not left out on the street.

Has anyone got one of the new bins?

I'm intending to share one with a neighbour but haven't had any luck actually ordering from Veola - I emailed a few weeks back and was told someone would call to collect payment but guess what!?

Same here.  They better hurry up if they are meant to start doing the new collections from next weeks.  I suspected they might mess it up so have bags and bags for collection this week and will then have to resort to the black bin.  I am glad I didn't downsize that bin.

This from the local interwebs, following a local's complaint to the Council about the non-receipt of a new garden waste bin:

Dear X

You will get  a call back from Veolia this week to formally sign you up and take payment.

We will continue to collect hessian sacks for a short period of overlap between the new and old service. As we do this we will tag the hessian sacks as a further reminder to residents of the change in the service and prompt to sign up the new service if they wish.

Yours sincerely

  

Ian Kershaw

Commissioning & Client Manager (Community Safety, Enforcement and Waste)

Haringey Council

Alexandra House, Level 5, 10 Station Road

London N22 7TR

 

T. 020 8489 1578

M. 07896 281 319

E. ian.kershaw@haringey.gov.uk

 

www.haringey.gov.uk

twitter@haringeycouncil

facebook.com/haringeycouncil

 

I 'signed up' a few weeks back and the best they seemed to do was to suggest they would 'be back in touch' on the 23rd Oct. I guess we start the process of organizing a bin at that point.

Given the discussion just posted up by Ed Gorman about having a wheelie bin nicked I do wonder how the security of our soon to be valuable green waste bins will be managed. Any sense of whether there will be any unique identification, beyond us putting the hose number on them in paint?

Interesting. Thanks. There are over 100,000 dwellings across Haringey. 42% are houses. Of the remaining 58%, let's assume, what, a third, a quarter have a garden. So that would be about 60,000 dwellings with gardens across the borough. That would mean a 9% take-up rate. That seems pretty poor to me. Having said that, I think a fairer test will be to see where the numbers are by the end of this first summer under the new scheme.

And how much extra garden waste ends up dumped elsewhere...places like Railway Fields will probably see their share of 'over the fence' dumping.

Well before Haringey offered a free garden waste collection they offered a free compost bin.

They still offer a compost bin though it now costs £20 plus sick squid for delivery [LINK]. I haven't seen this option flagged in the publicity about the new paid-for service. Well, a one-off £20 versus £75/£55 each year, there's the commercial imperative.

But for people who can't get their garden waste to the recycling centre and can't afford the new service, one or two compost bins could well be the answer. 

PS Peter S, is that 230" correct. Does that mean 230?

So they've only supplied 230 bins! Can it really be that low?

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