Stoke-on-Trent residents to pay for lost or damaged wheelie bins

“Sentinel headline coming up soon on a News-Stand near you...

"ANARCHIST REFUSE TORMENT"”

“As per the instructions issued by the council, the wheelie bin remains the property of the council but I am responsible for it.

So, as instructed by the council, I put their bin out in their street on collection day, some nugget drives into it or sets fire to it and I have to pay for a new one. But, because I now have to pay for a replacement bin, I report the crime to the police?

Perhaps we could save the expense and time by leaving bins on our own property and the council could collect it from there instead?”

“Councillor Andy Platt, cabinet member for green enterprises and clean city, said: "Discussions are in their infancy but options are currently under consideration with regards to charging for bins under certain circumstances."

If Councillor Platt is Minister for a clean city, perhaps he can explain his logic; just how will charging people for a replacement bin lead to a cleaner city? Clearly some people will not buy a new one, merely dump rubbish in the nearest park or back alley. The council fly-tipping team will then have to come out and remove it. Which is cheaper - providing free replacement bins or making a special collection?

The council have a legal responsibility to collect household waste but can specify how and when collection takes place. Are they the monpoly supplier of wheelie bins or can I get one cheaper at B & Q - or better still can I buy a second hand wheelie bin (one careless previous owner) on the black market and use that?”

“The problem in 99% of incidents in damaged bins is there is a design flaw with every Dennis refuse vehicle from 57 reg onwards. When the packer on the hopper of the vehicle is in motion whilst a bin is being tipped the lid of the bin collides with the packer causing the pegs securing the lid to be snapped either leaving the lid damaged or falling in to the hopper of the wagon and lost.This flaw has been reported to the line managers and strategic waste manager on countless occasions by the lads operating the vehicles.Have management been in touch with Dennis to either rectify the problem or compensate for the cost of repairing or replacing damaged bins? Of course not. They would sooner try and pass the cost on to the people of this city who are already bearing the brunt of the massive cuts imposed by this idiotic council.Many of the comments on this story are criticising the binners even though through my educated knowledge of this job these comments are unfair.I hope this clarifies the situation from the binners prospective,they are being forced to use equipment that is not up to the task.”

“Our binmen came today and ripped the lid clean off and then threw it inside the bin. My son saw them do it and went out and told them. They told us to ring the council. What a joke.”

“Another service we are paying for that is turning out to be rubbish. They can't even get the basics right, like putting bins back to a position of safety and not blocking peoples drives or left halfway across the pavement. So where is their training and the health and safety regs they should be following. Perhaps we should be fine the council. They are getting left to do the job however they see fit and are getting away with it. Complain about it, what happens, nothing. The typical council response . it's feeding all the way down from top to bottom. No leadership and no one to stand up and take responsibility.”

“On the plus side the bin men putting them back in front of the house it come from hold on forget that they only do that at Xmas aka the tipping season”

“Perhaps put your **** in black bags and dump them outside the council office . Everyone.”

“Notanumber,

'Twas my pleasure.”

“Speccy9eyes - Thanks for the support. Thanks for the compliment too. It really made my day!”