{"id":12983,"date":"2010-01-27T19:06:15","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T18:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/?p=12983"},"modified":"2013-03-14T15:23:04","modified_gmt":"2013-03-14T15:23:04","slug":"st-peters-road-leads-the-great-wheelie-bin-debate-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/?p=12983","title":{"rendered":"St Peters Road and the Great Wheelie Bin Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Third and Lydia Adams of St Peters Road in discussion with councillor Andrew Cartwritght SEE FULL STORY<\/p><\/div>\n

Bohemia\u2019s great twin bin debate continues. St Peter\u2019s Road resident Bill Third met with Andrew Cartwright and has sent in a petition to the Council\u2019s borough solicitor (see \u2018Petition\u2019 panel, this page) and to the head of waste & disposal (see \u2018Green Bins\u2019 panel, next page).<\/p>\n

Anglesea Terrace resident Derek Cole has also been actively campaigning \u2013 since at least May of this year \u2013 and has now put a list of specific requests for information to the council (see panel, next page). We also give Andrew Cartwright\u2019s letter in response to our article in last month\u2019s issue (see panel, below). If you would like to share your views, please let us know .<\/p>\n

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\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Third and Andrew Cartwright in Cornfield Terrace<\/p><\/div>\n

ANDREW CARTWRIGHT<\/strong><\/span> writes (5 Sep 2008)<\/p>\n

I read the article in the September Voice<\/em> \u201cSt Peter\u2019s Road petition\u201d with interest. Last year the Conservative-led Council tried to introduce wheelie bins (twin bins) into many streets in Bohemia. The Council changed its position when local residents and opposition councillors (including myself) raised questions about the lawfulness of the process that the Council was following.<\/p>\n

After taking legal advice the Council decided to remove a large number of streets from the scheme. The Council is now making a second attempt at introducing wheelie bins into some of those streets which were excluded last year. Whilst many residents in other parts of the town have welcomed wheelie bins and find them extremely easy to use it is undoubtedly true that they are not suitable for every household. If any resident feels that wheelie bins are being forced on them against their will then if they contact me I will do all I can to assist. Equally, if you would like a wheelie bin but you are not offered one then please let me know.<\/p>\n

Of course, I am also willing to help any resident who has concerns about the introduction of communal bins. As last year showed, opposition councillors can sometimes be very effective.<\/p>\n

Cllr Andrew Cartwright<\/p>\n

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BILL THIRD <\/strong><\/span>(Letter, sent Sep 5th 2008, from Bill Third to the Borough Solicitor, Jayne Butters)<\/p>\n

\u201cDear Madam, please find enclosed a petition signed by representatives of 23 households in St Peter\u2019s Road expressing their wish not to be included in the Twin Bin scheme for collection on Wednesdays as outlined in Colin Mee\u2019s letter to residents of August 7th. The letter states that \u2018rubbish will be collected from your point of storage\u2019. For the majority of people, the point of storage is the back garden, and many households have long put their black bags outside their back gate for collection on a Tuesday in Cornfield Terrace.
\nThe east side of St Peter\u2019s Road is a continuous terrace with no side access to the dwellings. Houses are split level with internal stairs on the ground floor, thereby making it virtually impossible to move these large bins from \u2018the point of storage\u2019 in the back garden to the front of the property. Given the terraced row on the east side there is nowhere to store these bulky bins out of sight. The small front gardens are separated from paths by walls, hedges and fences so are unsuitable for storing bins. Quite apart from the fact that many people take considerable pride in their gardens and do not want them obscured by these bulky bins. Pathways are only 120 cm wide, so storing the 75 cm bins on them is not an option as it blocks access, for example in the event of fire. It would also block access to prams or buggies for those families with children, or indeed wheelchair access for the disabled. So there is simply no room for these at the front of the property.<\/p>\n

The only alternative at the front would be to leave them on the pavement, which would restrict space for passage on the pavement by the many pram-pushing parents who walk up and down St Peter\u2019s Road to bring or fetch their children from Christchurch School.<\/p>\n

The overwhelming majority of residents on the east side have expressed their opposition to the proposed use of these bins, by signing this petition and would far rather stick with the current black bag system. The foxes and seagulls mentioned in Colin Mee\u2019s letter are not really an issue here. The situation on the west side of St Peter\u2019s Road is slightly different in that there are far fewer houses, most of them semi-detached, so that people have the space to tuck bins out of sight. But even here at least five residents are against.<\/p>\n

Finally, there are at least four elderly and disabled householders who simply will not be able to deal with these bulky bins. To qualify for exemption or assistance, they will have to jump through hoops, fill in a form and obtain a doctor\u2019s certificate.\u00a0 All in all this is a case of the recycling tail wagging the democratic dog.
\nThe petitioners ask that the above objections are heard by the council\u00a0 cabinet at their earliest convenience.<\/p>\n

Yours Sincerely, William A Third MA<\/p>\n

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BILL THIRD<\/span>\u00a0<\/b>(extract from Bill Third\u2019s letter, August 27, 2008, to Colin Mee, Head of Waste & Recycling at Hastings Borough Council)<\/p>\n

\u201c … Regarding the green bin, this is totally superfluous for our household as we compost all our vegetable and organic waste and have done so for the last 11 years. Did anyone consider that quite a large number people now compost their waste when this ill conceived scheme was first considered? For a two person household such as ours, these bins are far too big.<\/p>\n

You may be focussed on hitting your targets, but by doing so you will be hitting people instead. How are the old and infirm going to cope with them? Every month the European Parliament moves for a few days from Brussels to Strasbourg with all its documentation and members. This travelling circus, which is completely unnecessary, costs \u00a3200 million a year and emits 20,000 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 13,000 round trips by air between London and New York.<\/p>\n

It is they who should be subject to severe penalties, not local councils in the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n

William A Third MA<\/p>\n

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DEREK COLE<\/strong> <\/span>(extracts from letter, 25 August 2008, from Derek Cole of Anglesea Terrace, to HBC\u2019s Information Officer, considerably abridged)<\/p>\n