First it was the strike, then the snow and christmas, then the timetable catch up. Well done Leeds Council, I now have three empty wheeled bins.
The bin crisis did hit a few nerves, and the backists, who always break the rules, put theirs out at the wrong time, well there is safety in numbers, mass lawbreaking of an environ mental nature, has now ceased and peace might prevail?
The law regarding putting council owned bins out is fairly straightforward. You put them out at the collection point on the appointed day. The problem is that the collection point is not always defined, and depends on the goodwill, custom and practice of the collecting team, and local conditions.
If the collection point is outside someone else’s house. There is a strong risk that problems will happen, like if you put your bin there, and they dont like you, there is trouble. If you dont put it there to satisfy their territory needs, there is a risk that the bin will never be emptied! Then they complain if your bin overflows, or smells, or is plotting something?
I have had this trouble for a while. Solution is for the council to make a reasonable adjustment under disability act, and take my bins, not from official collection point but from end of drive. This works, but in times of trouble and torment from weather global cooling, the council often put my bins at the collection point and not on my drive.
This week I struggled to get my council bin out near the collection point because it was very full, and amazing thing happened, people came out to photograph it, made rude comments shone lasers at me, then they moved my bin away from the official point!
Maybe they are trying to prove that there should be a debate about where bins should be put, obviously, the more efficient the system is, the cheaper it is and the fewer the collection points are, the faster the service in this difficult weather.
Maybe if local councillors had some time, they could go around and discuss where bin collection points should be on particular streets, and if residents could not agree there could be an appeal procedure. If this was denied, maybe the council could make an order for people to work together on behalf of the community?
It could be called a Co-operative Behaviour order, where people, if breaking the idea of community spirit and common purpose, could be put in the stocks?
The only party promoting the stocks as behaviour manipulation is the official monster raving loonies, but maybe electronic stocks could be developed, where nutters and right wing political extremists, could be sorted out?