Anger Over Wheelie Bins at IBAF

"We are not having them"

At November's Isleworth and Brentford Area Forum Paul Slattery, of Lateward Road presented a petition against the imposition of wheelie bins, especially in a conservation area.

100% of the neighbours he talked to are against them and signed the petition. Residents within St Paul's Conservation Area say that wheelie bins are an eyesore in a beautiful area where people do recycle already. They are inappropriate in these Victorian terraces and the front gardens do not have enough room. Paul gave an impassioned speech (do read it - pdf)

Paul Slattery and other members of the public

The council support wheelie bins on the basis that the pilot trials have demonstrated increased levels of recycling, reduced land fill and an improvement in street cleanliness. The expectation is that costs will be reduced by £500,000 over a year.

A survey was conducted after the trials. 820 responses were received out of 19,000 households and Cllr O'Reilly questioned the validity of the survey results given the low response which broadly supported the wheelie bins although a majority of respondents disagreed that they recycle more now they have wheelie bins.

Questions from the public included practical considerations about how roads would have room for wheelie bins to be wheeled back and forth to collection lorries and whether they would be correctly replaced. A resident said he helped an elderly gentleman who gets blocked in by his wheelie bin and is unable to move it himself, even when empty.

There was a general feeling from the public (over 50) in attendance that they didn't want the bins, that they were ugly and that if you recycle already they're an expensive waste.

"streets that heavily recycle will not benefit from wheelie bins"

"If I only produce one small plastic bag of rubbish how does a large bin help?"

"given the size of my front garden will I have to stare at the wheelie bin from my front room?"

Officers stated they have engaged with residents to try and change recycling patterns but didn't identify when or where this took place.

If you do not want a wheelie bin you may appeal by writing to Waste and Recycling Services, emailing wheeliebin@hounslow.gov.uk or ringing the "wheelie bin hotline" on 020 8583 2189. Criteria for a successful appeal involve not having enough room for a bin due to bicycles, mobility scooters and other use of front garden. If you are not happy with the outcome of the intial appeal you may request a second (via the same method) which will be determined by senior management. So far 17 appeals have been approved out of 120 submitted.

If you are disabled you can require an assisted collection.

The online petition against wheelie bins currently is approaching 400 signatures and has a week to go.

There is also a 24 hour only twitter poll -

Will a wheelie bin encourage you to recycle more?

— BrentfordTW8 (@brentfordtw8) November 13, 2015

November 13, 2015