Bohemia Village Voice  Bohemia Village Voice

For bohemians everywhere

Bohemia speaks out: no communal bins thanks

Bill Third, accepting a signature from resident, Mrs J Woodward

Bill Third, accepting a signature from resident, Mrs J Woodward

St Peter’s Road residents Bill Third and John Humphries decided to organise a mass petition for all the roads affected by the Council’s bin blight. They drafted a letter,  and on 28th November distributed 600 of them around Bohemia. Each letter included a tear-off petition slip. The following weekend the slips were collected. The statistics speak for themselves. There are 42 houses in St Peter’s Road, some are unoccupied and some have been subdivided into flats. The actual number of occupied premises is 56. Of these 56 Bill & John managed to get replies from 54, an impressive 96%. And of these 54, the number of premises where someone signed the petition was 46 (3 didn’t sign and 4 didn’t know – or didn’t care). The results are:

Against communal bins 46  (85%)
For communal bins 3   (6%)
Don’t know 5   (9%)
Total responses 54   (100%)

As we go to press, 19 responses have been received from Newgate Road, all opposed to communal bins.
Residents had plenty to say about the bins scheme:

Aldborough Road:
They take up very limited parking space  Waste of money!   The Council works for the Council Tax payers, not us working for them!

Bohemia Road:
We already have a good weekly collection
They will attract vermin
Smaller amounts will have to be carried to these bins, which will result in more bin bags being used
They will of course be vandalised, moved, possibly set alight or pushed down the hills
The system we have at present works well, though more could be collected.

Clarence Road:Target for vandals
If the bins break, how long before they’re repaired?
The Council can’t get black sacks right, what chance of communal bins working?
Wheelie bins preferred with weekly collection as usual
I have lived here since 1973 and have not seen rubbish strewn around.

Cranbrook Road:
Council tax increases for less public services
Council cannot sell re-cycled materials so easily.
House prices will be devalued  

London Road:Rats!!
Someone is bound to take it on themselves to firebomb them. We have enough problems with Chavs without giving them another target!!
Disabled may find it difficult to carry their rubbish
Bins could be a magnet for vandalism
I am disabled, in a wheelchair, so bins useless for us. 

Lower South Road:
They will take up parking space
Unsightly
Very vulnerable to misuse & vandalism. 

Newgate Road :Eyesore
Messy
Who’s gonna stop everyone else dumping their rubbish?
Messy and take up parking space
No way
I know someone who cannot leave their house (agoraphobic)
The black bag and recycling system work very well, there is no need to change
Will Veolia keep the bins clean and in good repair?
Still waiting for the Council’s questionnaire, not in previous mailing
Vandalism
Fire risk 
Why change weekly collections which seem to work well?
Seagulls are still a problem with communal bins
Other policies such as encouraging people to recycle more have worked for other councils by door knocking and helping people understand what they can recycle
They will devalue properties.

St Paul’s Road:
There will be rubbish and dumping all around them (seen elsewhere).
Hastings & St Leonards gets a lot of bad press. Turning our town into an ugly, uncared for tip is only reinforcing public opinion – we should do everything possible to change that

St Peter’s Road
Encourages fly tipping
Health issue for children at Christchurch primary school
Fire hazard
They are never cleaned out and stink! 
Unsightly and encourages overuse from other streets (anyone’s rubbish)
You have only to look at the bins in Church Rd to see why not!
Untidy and unhygenic
Present system is fine, if not broke, why fix it?
Grim
The existing system works perfectly fine!
Could cause a health hazard to our residents due to specific circumstances
Don’t want opposite my house
Obvious!!
It’s not fair to dump all our rubbish near someone’s house
If not unsightly enough when new, bins over a period of time can only get worse; it is not just age, but misuse, and that includes grafitti and arson
Attract rats
Vandals’ dream come true
People who have filled their twin bins will use these bins when collecting children from school, therefore leaving no room for us, hence fly tipping
I have seen them in other areas and they do not work!
People will just dump rubbish beside the bins

Tower Road:Not once have I seen a communal bin without something left beside it, excluding general rubbish
I have ticked all the boxes as they are all true
Disabled people will have a problem too

Tower Road West:
They will be vandalised.

Upper South Road:

The black bag system is very good
Very tempting for vandals to set light to

THANK YOU! – to all residents in Bohemia who signed our petitions. Bill Third and John Humphries

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